Becoming Equals
by YamiShiningFriendship
Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

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Becoming Equals

It was pretty much a normal day in Domino City. Birds singing in the trees, people happily hurrying from one place to the other, people in dark cloak jackets going around looking for their next duelist victim. What? Malik decided to direct GHOULS from Domino rather than Egypt. Of course, this was all ignored, and rather frowned upon by a single solitary figure. The figure pushed back the hood on her jacket to reveal black hair with blue streaks that was pulled into a ponytail, and very narrow and cold green eyes.

"Why do I even bother anymore?" Rei muttered to herself, "I've been wandering for almost 5,000 years, and I haven't found a single clue on the whereabouts of anyone." With a sigh, Rei got to her feet and shouldering her pack headed out of the park, reflecting on her ill luck.

After she had lost the Millennium Ring, had the Millennium Rod stolen from her, and left Egypt, Rei had worked her way across Asia, Europe, and Africa. The only reason it had taken her so damn long, was that people had tended to take advantage of her and enslave her, which in turn made her forget things, such as how to summon her ka. Passing a card store, Rei stopped and stared at a display in the window.

There, in the window, were cards being displayed from the newest Duel Monsters pack. And in the center was Dreadscythe, her beloved ka, now known as Guardian Dreadscythe. 'Well, well. Now I can see if I've truly lost my thieving touch,' Rei thought with a smirk as she entered the store. A minute later, she was heading out of the store casually with the Dreadscythe card in her coat pocket.

"Fools," she snorted before looking around. Since she had only been in Japan for a week or two, she understood the language, but couldn't understand the signs at all. "Guess I'll just follow my feet," she said and headed off down the sidewalk.

After a while, Rei had worked her way out of downtown and was wandering the outskirts. Passing a school, Rei froze, sensing a familiar aura. 'It can't be…can it?" she wondered before climbing up a tree that was near the school wall. Not long after Rei got comfortable on her perch, the bell rang, ending the school day.

Students swarmed out of the building, but Rei quickly spotted a familiar face in the crowd. In fact, the only difference was the hair. Instead of having side bangs angling up on both sides of her head and going down to the collarbone like queen Maria had styled her hair, this Maria had a side part and bangs sloping over her forehead to be pinned near her ear to keep from being blown around and a ribbon acting as a headband. As Rei watched, another brunette approached her and stood in front of Maria.

"Hello Téa. How can I help you today?" Maria asked in a bored tone.

"You know what I want. I want you to stay away from my friends…" Téa started but was interrupted by Maria.

"Especially Yami, right?" Maria finished, "Listen. I don't know why you believe that Yami likes you, Téa, but I assure you that he doesn't. Besides, what shoved a stick up your ass to make you so bossy today?"

"Of course Yami likes me, how could he not? I'm pretty, smart, and very popular. And lastly, Tsucci, I'm not being bossy, I'm just protecting what's mine," Téa said, turning and sticking her nose in the air.

Rei jolted. That Téa person looked exactly like Nephoris. Glancing back at Maria, Rei saw a familiar fury in the girl's eyes. 'Where have I heard that before?' Maria thought before feeling a twinge course through her body and her thoughts were distracted by Téa being lifted into the air. "Apparently my powers don't like you Téa," Maria said, "And now since you can't leave, listen closely. You have no right to call Yami yours, especially if he isn't even interested in you. Also, _never_ call me Tsucci. Only my friends can call me that, and as far as I'm concerned, you aren't one of them."

Maria walked past Téa and allowed her to drop and land on her ass as she left the schoolyard. As she headed down the sidewalk, Maria was aware that someone was following her. Thinking it was merely another student who was heading the same way, she thought nothing of it. As she reached the richer part of town, she realized the person wasn't a student, for none of them lived out here besides her and her brothers.

"All right, who are you and what do you want?" Maria demanded, whirling around to face her follower. Her follower wore gothic clothing and a jacket with a hood that overshadowed her features.

"You certainly know how to take care of yourself," the figure mused ignoring Maria's demands and lowering her hood, "Of course, that's to be expected with the pretty…well, desirable figure you have."

Maria frowned. "I've never seen you before, but yet your face is strikingly familiar," she admitted, "What's your name?"

"I'm Rei," Rei replied, "Rei Tsunami."

"And I'm Maria Tsuconnichi, but you may call me Tsucci," Maria replied. "Where do you live, since obviously you don't live around here?" she asked then.

"I'm a drifter. I've been one almost as far back as I can remember."

"How old are you then?"

Rei smirked. "I'm five thousand sixteen," she answered with a shrug.

Maria blinked in a dumbfounded manner. "No, really," she said, not appreciating the joke, "How old are you? You can't be more than 18."

"I'm 5,016," Rei replied seriously.

Maria paled. "You're not joking," she murmured suddenly and then looked around. "Come with me to my house. These neighbors are nosy and I suspect a few calls tonight asking who you are," Maria said, turning and walking off, knowing that Rei would follow.

"You like living large, don't you?" Rei asked with a raised eyebrow as they walked through the gate of what was by far the largest mansion in the district.

"Hmm? Oh, this is actually my brother Seto's. It was passed down to him when his stepfather died," Maria explained.

"Don't you mean your stepfather?" Rei asked.

"Nope, his stepfather. Me, Seto, and our little brother Mokuba were orphaned at a young age, and they got adopted by a man with the last name of Kaiba while I was stuck in the orphanage. I only found and came to live with them a year and a half ago," Maria replied opening the front door. "Are you hungry?" she asked Rei.

"Yes," Rei replied, taking off her jacket.

"Are you always that skinny?" Maria asked, trying not to be rude as she headed into the kitchen and started making food.

"Since I was about 13. I used to be a slave and my master didn't treat me well," Rei answered, entering the kitchen as well.

"You were a slave? Where are you from?" Maria asked, looking up. She had just met Rei, and felt unusually close to her already.

"Egypt," Rei said as Maria put a plate of food in front of her and sat across the table with some juice. "Me and my brother, Bakura, were slaves together until he turned 18 and then once he was set free, our master sold me to the master that mistreated me."

Maria choked on her juice. "Bakura is your brother? But he's a complete lunatic!" she exclaimed once she recovered.

"He's not a lunatic," Rei said calmly, "At least not when I last talked to him when I owned the Millennium Ring."

"That had to be around five thousand years ago. Maybe he went insane during that time," Maria suggested.

"He was quite sane when he died. You actually caused his sanity to return," Rei said.

"I was in Egypt?" Maria asked.

"Yes Tsucci, you weren't just in Egypt back then, you were one of Bakura's best friends, and you were queen," Rei said.

Maria's eyes widened and then she got up and going into another room, came back with a picture. "Who else was in Egypt?" Maria asked.

Rei took the picture and studied it. It was a picture of Maria and apparently her friends. "Let's see. You, your brother though I never saw him without his priest hat, Yami or Atemu as was his birth name, the one who looks like a little version of him, the black haired woman, and…" here Rei paused and looked at one of the figures in the picture. Suddenly, her stomach churned with an emotion that she hadn't felt in millennia

"What is it?" Maria asked, coming around the table and standing behind Rei.

"Him," Rei said, pointing to one of the three blondes in the picture, "Ishtar."

"Tch, another lunatic," Maria said with a shudder, "He's even creepier than Bakura."

Rei laughed at this. "For once, I agree with you. He was Bakura's other best friend."

"Birds of a feather, those two are. So Yami, Yugi, Isis, Ishtar, Seto, and me were in Egypt. You forgot Bakura though," Maria said, pointing to one of the two albinos in the picture.

Rei looked closely. The one that Maria had pointed to did not look happy to be in the picture. This Bakura had long white hair, but the eyes were the same…minus the scars near the right one. "Wow, he grew pale, weak, and skinny," Rei commented.

"But his bad temper is as it had most likely been back in Egypt. If you want, I'll take you to him. I have to do a project with his hikari, Ryou, anyway," Maria offered.

"I would like that," Rei said quietly after a pause, "It would be nice to see my brother again.

"Well then finish eating so we can go," Maria answered, taking her cup to the sink. Rei nodded and finishing her food and followed Maria out of the door after grabbing her jacket.

A while later, the two girls arrived at a modest-sized house. Knocking on the door, Maria heard Bakura yell for who ever it was at the door to fuck off.

"Was he always like this?" Maria asked Rei. Seeing the shrug of reply, Maria knocked on the door again and jumped when it flew open, to reveal Bakura standing there, thoroughly annoyed.

"What the f…oh, Maria. What are you doing here?" Bakura asked, his tone changing in a heartbeat, apparently not expecting Maria to be there.

"I have that project to do with Ryou, remember?" Maria said, ducking under Bakura's arm and entering the house. Bakura raised an eyebrow and looked at Rei, who shrugged. "Bakura! Let Rei in!" Maria called.

Bakura's eyebrow twitched, but he did as asked. Bakura and Rei entered the living room and saw Maria and Ryou sitting on the floor, bent over a model of apparently Thebes by the way they were making a pyramid out of cardboard. "Hey Maria, who's this?" Ryou asked, looking up.

"Hmm?" Maria asked and then followed Ryou's gaze. "Oh, that's Rei, Rei Tsunami. Rei, this is Ryou," Maria introduced.

Bakura shifted his gaze so that he was looking at Rei. "Where are you from?" Bakura asked, taking in the details like her hair color and eye color, but not going so far as to hope she was who he thought she was, because there was no way it would happen.

Rei blinked at the sudden question. "I'm from Egypt."

"Egypt? How old are you then?" Ryou asked.

Rei hesitated and said reluctantly, "Over 5000."

Bakura snorted suddenly. "Yeah right. Look kid, no one can live that long. Now stop playing 'pretend' and tell us how old you are," he said dryly.

Rei wheeled around and faced Bakura with a glare that made a shiver run down his back, and he only knew one other person besides himself who could do that. "I'm over 5,000 and I can prove it," Rei snapped before going to the model and said calmly, "The palace should be facing the Nile, and the shrine should be to the west of the palace, but still in the grounds."

Ryou looked at the model and corrected the palace grounds. Bakura let out a low growl. "Lucky guess," he grumbled before flopping on the couch.

Rei shared a look with Maria before going to stand in front of Bakura. Pressing his eyes gently closed, Rei traced with her fingertip two lines underneath Bakura's right eye and then, starting at his forehead, she traced another line over his eyelid, at which he instinctively trembled to, and continued down.

When she got to just a bit past his mouth, Bakura snatched her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face. Locking eyes with Rei, Bakura looked into the green pools and something clicked in his mind. "Sister?" he asked uncertainly.

Rei smiled gently for the first time in, well, millennia and nodded. "Yes big brother, It's me," she replied.

Bakura stared blankly and then sunk back on the couch. "How is that possible? You should be no more than dust by now, however the only thing changed is the width of your eyes," he asked weakly.

"I don't know for sure myself. Over the years, I discovered a bit about my bloodline/heritage, and I learned that my bloodline is cursed with long life, but I didn't think it'd be this long," Rei answered with a small shrug.

"Umm, I have a question," Ryou spoke up, "How can you be siblings if you two look nothing alike?"

Rei messed up Bakura's hair and sat down next to him. "We are…I don't know the term, but we're not blood related…" she trailed off, unable to recall the term.

Bakura rolled his eyes before giving his head a shake. "We were slaves together, I was maybe around eight years old when my Master brought her home. I wasn't the nicest to her at first, damn pride, but we eventually developed a bond strong enough to be one like that between two siblings. In a way, we adopted each other," he explained.

"Bakura, if you were friends with me, and I was married to Yami, why do you two hate each other?" Maria asked.

Bakura winced and didn't answer at first. Finally, he lifted his gaze to meet the three others'. "I've never told anyone my reasons for some of the things I've done, and I don't want to start now. Ryou knows, but he's sworn not to tell," he said simply, effectively stopping Maria from asking him.

"Sorry Tsucci," Ryou said with an apologetic smile, "I did promise."

"Now if you two mortals are going to continue with your model, I'm going to hang out with Malik," Bakura said stiffly as he walked out.

"Who's Malik?" Rei asked.

"It's his best friend. You should go with him Rei, you'll probably be bored otherwise," Maria said, returning to the model. Rei pondered that and jumping up, ran after Bakura.

"Why did you want Rei to go with Bakura?" Ryou asked once Rei left.

"She knew Ishtar in Egypt," Maria replied.

"Great, another psycho joins that flock," Ryou replied dryly, causing Maria to laugh.

"We'll see."

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YSF: HA! Told you it would be up by Christmas. As always, it's slow going at first, but should pick up momentum. Please read and review, and help me determine how this is going to go. Trust me, it'll go much faster if I know where to go. wink wink


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

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Becoming Equals

Rei caught up with Bakura and touched his arm in a manner of greeting. Bakura just looked at her and nodded. Both walked in silence before Rei decided to speak up.

"So who's Malik? I heard from Maria that you're his best friend, but that's it," she asked.

Bakura turned his head and smirked at her. "He's just as crazy as I am, and he for a while hated the pharaoh just as much as I do."

"I don't think you're crazy, but I know there's another reason that he's worthy enough to be your friend, or else you wouldn't have bothered," Rei pointed out.

"Perhaps there's more than one reason, but I'll only tell you one. He's helping me to obtain the two items that that damn spirit owns," Bakura said shoving his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat and then retrieved the millennium eye from one of them, "Of course, I managed to get this one on my own.

"Akunadin's reincarnation had it I presume?"

"No, some pansy named Pegasus. Kind of looked like Akunadin, but apparently Akunadin's reincarnation was Malik's father," Bakura replied, looking the Millennium Eye over before returning it to his coat pocket

"Oh, okay, so what about this spirit business?" Rei asked.

"You remember Hassan, right?"

"Umm, wasn't he one of those monsters that helped the pharaoh?"

Bakura frowned. "Yes," he replied sourly, "Shadi is the name of the person, but he called himself Hassan. Shadi owns/possesses the Millennium Ankh and scales." Bakura turned into an alley then and followed it until he came to a door in an ominous-looking building.

Entering and motioning for Rei to follow, Bakura walked down the purple hallway and entered a door at the far end. Rei followed and found herself in a big room that looked like a throne room. Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask Bakura something, shouting erupted from behind another doorway, and Rei, ever fearing shouting, zipped behind Bakura.

Bakura rolled his eyes and stood where he was as Malik came in arguing with another person. Watching them for a minute, Bakura realized that he hadn't been noticed so he spoke up, his voice becoming harsh.

"What are you two fools squabbling about now?" he spat.

Malik jumped and whirled around, ignoring the dark chuckle that came from his companion. "Jeez Bakura, don't sneak up on us like that!" he growled.

"I was standing here for a few minutes already."

Malik ran a hand through his blonde hair irritatedly and then noticed something, or someone. "Hey Bakura, who's behind you?" he asked, sitting on the throne at one end of the room, his companion moving to stand concealed in the shadows, as was his habit.

"Hmm? Oh, this is my sister, Rei," Bakura replied, stepping aside.

Malik got up and approached Rei. "My name is Malik. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, taking Rei's hand and kissing the back of it.

Rei narrowed her eyes and pulling her hand from his, slapped him across the face. "Don't touch me," she hissed. Hearing Malik's companion laugh softly, she stared into the shadows where he leaned against the wall. "And who are you?" she demanded.

"Why should I tell you?" the person asked mockingly. The only reply was that a dagger imbedded itself in the wall next to his head.

"You don't want to know him, he's crazy," Malik said as the figure removed the dagger and inspected it.

"I'm probably just as bad. I think I can take care of my self. Now, show yourself, or my next dagger won't miss," Rei said, directing the last sentence towards Malik's companion. The figure shifted and seemed to study her.

"My, aren't we forgetful," he mocked after a minute, allowing the eye on his forehead to glow softly.

"Don't play games with me, fool. I know that Sennen Item holders all…have that eye…" Rei stated and trailed off suddenly, remembering the picture that Maria had shown her.

"I see we've caught on," the figure stated, emerging from the shadows, a smirk on his tan face that reached his lavender eyes, above which was the still glowing third eye, framed by platinum blond hair that spiked much more than Malik's.

Rei gaped for a moment and then to Malik's and Bakura's surprise, hugged him tightly. "Oh Ishtar, I never thought I'd see you again," she murmured, "When you were stolen, I couldn't bear waiting for the pharaoh to return, so I left."

Ishtar smiled softly and stroked Rei's hair, not caring if his hikari saw him being something rather than evil. "No need to squeeze me in two, I'm not going anywhere," he finally said in the ancient tongue that both were still so fond of.

"Okay you two, enough of the tender moment. Rei, do you have anywhere to stay?" Bakura asked.

"No," she replied releasing Ishtar, "I was figuring that I'd just stay with Maria."

"You could stay here, we have plenty of rooms," Ishtar said once more in the Ancient Egyptian tongue.

"Enough with speaking in an ancient language!" Malik snapped, "You know I don't understand it!"

"Rei, this is why I don't remember much of our past. I have to put up with Malik the Moron," Ishtar said with a low laugh, sticking to Egyptian.

"Okay, now I know you're talking about me. And don't say you weren't, I heard my name," Malik huffed once he heard Bakura and Rei laugh.

"If you want to know so badly, Ishtar merely offered Rei to stay here. He said you guys have plenty of rooms," Bakura finally translated with a dying chuckle.

"I don't think the Rare Hunters are going to like that one bit," Malik said apprehensively.

"Then she can stay on one of my floors," Ishtar snapped. At this, Malik's jaw dropped.

"You said you would never let anyone down on those two floors! As you put it, you enjoy your space" Malik protested.

"That was before I knew Rei was here," Ishtar growled before turning. "Come, Rei," he said, looking over his shoulder, "I'll let you pick out a room."

Rei blinked and then trotted after Ishtar, who strode briskly. Ishtar led her to stairs and then started down them. As they went farther and farther down, Rei noticed that the color of the halls grew darker. Finally reaching the bottom hall, Ishtar led Rei down the hall that was a purple so dark, it looked black.

"This is my room," Ishtar said, motioning to a closed door that had had the Sennen eye painted on it in gold, "You may have any other room that you want." Rei took an hour and finally decided on the one to the right of Ishtar's. Going into the hall, Rei noticed that Ishtar was nowhere in sight. Peering into his room, Rei was taken aback by the sheer size of it.

Getting over her shock, she slipped into the room and softly shut the door before looking around. There, on the bed was Ishtar. He was curled up asleep, and Rei couldn't help but smile at the innocent look on his face. Going over, Rei sat on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers through Ishtar's hair for a minute. Pulling away when Ishtar made a small sound in the back of his throat, Rei stood to leave, but was stopped by fingers curling themselves around her wrist.

"Why'd you stop? I was enjoying it," Ishtar complained, looking up at Rei with sleep-filled eyes.

"Because I can. Just because we haven't seen each other in what seems like forever doesn't mean that you should expect special treatment," she retorted, returning to her spot on the edge of the bed.

"Oh? And why not?" Ishtar asked with a smirk, raising himself up on his elbow.

Rei frowned. "Besides just now, when was the last time I hadn't been a cold heartless bitch?" she asked coldly. Ishtar dropped his gaze in a sad manner.

"The night before my execution," he muttered.

Rei started a little. Had it really been that long? Sighing, Rei brought her legs onto the bed and taking Ishtar by surprise, curled up next to him.

Ishtar blinked and then with a shrug, settled back down and pulled his blankets over Rei, settling for wrapping himself in his cloak. Once he was settled, he felt Rei cuddle to his body heat.

"This is what I hate about being anemic. My body is always so cold," she grumbled and then hit Ishtar in the side as she felt his chest vibrate as he chuckled.

The two lay like that for a while, until Ishtar shifted to get a better look at the clock in his room. "It's getting late. Are you staying in here, or are you going into your room?" he asked.

Rei yawned and woke herself up from the light doze that she had fallen into. "Too comfy to move," she replied, her eyes only half open. A minute later, her eyes snapped fully open and she sat up. "I gotta tell Bakura, he's probably wondering where I am," she said, pushing the blankets away and started to stand.

"Oh no you don't," Ishtar replied with a chuckle, snaking an arm around Rei's waist and pulling her back down, "You were asleep, but Bakura looked in a little bit ago. I told him that you'd probably be staying here, so he just nodded and left."

Rei blinked and then with a defeated sigh, crawled back under the blankets, Ishtar joining her after a minute. "So," Ishtar started as he stroked Rei's ponytail, knowing full well that at times it irritated her, "What happened to you after we split?"

Rei snorted. "Do you want the short and sweet version, or do you want the impossibly long one?" she asked sarcastically.

"Point taken. Give me a medium length one. I know you traveled because that was our plan before I was stolen, so tell me where you went," Ishtar urged. Rei sighed and gathered as many places that she could remember and described them to Ishtar.

"Man, now I wish I was able to come with you," he complained.

"Now that I've given you 5,000 years of my life in a nutshell, tell me what happened with you after you woke up," Rei said, "It's only fair."

Ishtar nodded in consent. "I'd rather not tell you, but I'll show you," he replied as the room around them vanished. Looking around, Rei found herself next to Ishtar in a huge expanse of pure darkness.

"Ishtar, where are we?" Rei asked.

"We're in my soul room," Ishtar replied, striding forward, and almost disappearing into the darkness.

"Wait!" Rei called, stopping Ishtar from going any farther, a sliver of him still visible, "You're disappearing on me."

Ishtar blinked and then mumbling an apology waved his hand, and Rei could see the details of his room. "Sorry, I forgot about that precaution. I set it up so that if anyone entered my soul room without me giving him or her permission, or if they're not wanted, all they would see is darkness. Very convenient to hide in the two times pharaoh came looking for me," Ishtar explained, "You now have full permission to enter my soul room."

Rei nodded and looked around. Ishtar's room was lavishly decorated, but three quarters of the room had a sadistic theme full of torture devices, and the last quarter had a soft, almost innocent touch to it. "Nice decorations," she commented sarcastically.

Ishtar grinned as he crossed the room to a door that appeared out of nowhere. "Thanks. I love using these items on Malik when he annoys me, since none of them are truly life threatening except for one," he replied.

Rei raised an eyebrow. "Really, and which one is that?"

"Iron Maiden," Ishtar answered, gesturing to the said device tucked away in a corner, "I actually pushed Pharaoh into it the second time he was here. He's lucky Malik stopped me from closing it, or he'd be in worlds of trouble."

Rei shook her head. "So how are you going to show me what happened?"

"Through my memories." With that, Ishtar opened the door he was in front of and passed through after beckoning for Rei to follow. Rei followed and found she watching Ishtar's memories from when he first awoke through Battle City.

Rei pulled back once Ishtar was banished into the Shadow Realm and looked around. She was back in his soul room, Ishtar nowhere in sight. "Ishtar?" Rei called.

Ishtar seemed to meld from a wall as he walked through it. "I'm right here Rei. I don't know why, but I tend to vanish when people enter my memories. I normally don't re-manifest until the memories have stopped."

Rei nodded. "Can we get out of here?"

Ishtar nodded, took Rei gently by the arm, and the room swirled and became Ishtar's room at GHOULS. "It's hard to say who had it easier," Ishtar said softly, "Each day in the Shadow Realm felt like a thousand years of hellish pain."

"How did you manage to escape the Shadow Realm?" Rei asked.

Ishtar smiled and ruffled Rei's hair, hearing the all too familiar growl. "Bakura found me after about two months and pulled me out. I was banished so far in, it took a lot of his strength to save me."

"My brother, the hero."

…

Maria bid goodnight to Ryou and started for home. She and Ryou had finally finished their model, Ryou finally getting frustrated enough to dig into Bakura's memories. Shuddering from a breeze in the darkness, Maria hurried along, wanting to get home before it became too dark. Hearing footsteps about a minute later, she jumped, only to relax when she saw Bakura emerge from the shadows. "Bakura, you scared me," Maria sighed.

Bakura just shrugged and came up to Maria so he was standing a few feet from her. "Rei is staying at GHOULS, just so you know," he said simply, "What are you doing out this late?"

Maria shrugged in reply. "Ryou and I finished our model a few minutes ago. I'm heading home now."

"Ah, so that's why he tapped my memories," Bakura said with a nod and started to walk past. "Be careful going home, the more dangerous people come out around this time," he added as he started to disappear into the shadows.

Maria glanced ahead of her, let Bakura's words sink in, gulped, and turned around, not seeing Bakura. "Bakura?"

Bakura paused and turned. He could see Maria, illuminated by a street light, straining to see him. Coming back, Bakura stopped at the edge of the circle of light. "Yes?"

"This sounds stupid but could you… could you walk me home?" Maria asked in a quiet voice.

Bakura smiled, knowing that his warning had spooked her. "Sure," he replied and fell into step beside her. They walked in silence for a while before Bakura spoke again. "Tsucci, what do you remember about your past life?" he asked.

Maria blinked, a little surprised at the question, but thought anyway. "Well, not much," she admitted, "at least, only what Rei told me."

"What did she tell you?"

"Only that I was queen at one point, and that you and I were best friends."

As Bakura thought on that, he noticed that they had had started to walk alongside the Kaiba Mansion's walls. A thought occurred to him just then, so he grabbed Maria by the shoulders and pinned her to the wall.

"B-Bakura?" Maria started, but was cut off.

"Rei told you nothing else?" Maria looked up into Bakura's eyes, lit from within by a smoldering fire deep down, and shook her head slowly.

Bakura leant closer and put his mouth near Maria's ear. "Passion must have cooled, and all of the magic should have died by now," he murmured, his breath hot against her ear, which made a shiver run down her spine.

Maria, puzzled, looked up and tried to lock gazes with Bakura to try to figure out what the heck he was talking about, but he pulled away too quickly, and not looking back, disappeared into the darkness of the night.

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YSF: I finally got it done! Trust me when I say that I worked on it every day…or tried to. Most of the time I just stared at the screen going: "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" I'm sorry it took so long, but please read and Review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

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Becoming Equals

Maria sat idly at her desk the next morning. After Bakura had left her, she had followed the wall to the front, put up with Seto complaining that she should have called, and then went to bed without eating anything. Twirling her pen, Maria pondered, for what seemed like the millionth time, the meaning of Bakura's words.

"Something wrong Tsucci?" asked one of her friends as he sat backwards in his seat in front of her, the shiny leather that tightly clad the male's legs, shining in the overhead lights.

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing. I'm just trying to figure out the meaning to something Bakura said to me last night," Maria replied, snapping out of her daze and giving her friend a small smile.

"What were you doing with that…that Tomb Robber, and at night of all times?" he spat, his red eyes narrowing to near slits.

"Yami, I'll tell you this once…calm down. It was late, I was walking home from Ryou's after finishing our project. I ran into Bakura, and he offered to walk me home. He said that the more dangerous scum come out at the time we were talking," Maria explained, not really understanding why she felt obligated to explain.

Yami shook his head, his tri-colored hair waving gently in the breeze that he created. "Maria, Bakura _is_ the most dangerous scum there is, Ishtar ranking a close second," he deadpanned.

"Why do you hate him so much?" Maria demanded suddenly.

Yami reeled backwards as though he'd been hit. Biting his lip, Yami thought hard, a look of pure concentration on his face. "I don't know," he replied finally, "All I know was that as soon as I saw him for the first time, a huge hate rose up within me. My memories are too fuzzy for confirmation, but the Puzzle gives off the feeling that were mortal enemies in Egypt."

'_Leaving the queen in the crossfire'_ a little thought voice floated into Maria's mind. Mentally following the trail it left, intrigued, Maria was rewarded with a flashback.

_Flashback_

_Maria looked at Yami and rubbed her eyes, causing the kohl she wore to become greatly smeared. "Let me guess, my face is a mess from crying," she said, seeing Yami trying not to smile and pointed to his own eyes to indicate she smeared her kohl. As her husband did that, she smiled humorlessly and then saddened again. "I never thought Bakura would betray me," she said, "I'm fine, but seeing him kill that one soldier mercilessly tore my heart in two."_

_"It'll hurt for a while, but soon it'll become a dull ache," Yami soothed, kissing Maria's forehead._

_"One thing's for sure," Seto said, tucking the Millennium rod into his sash and embracing his sister in a much needed hug, "We can't trust Bakura ever again."_

_End Flashback_

Maria blinked and nodded to Yami's statement, realizing that the flashback was only a few seconds long. As she nodded, the teacher entered and rapped on the desk for attention. Yami turned to face the front, and class began. The class had only been going on for a few minutes when Malik burst into the room, face flushed and out of breath.

"You're late again Mr. Ishtar. If you insist on running to school, you should start about ten minutes earlier. That way you'll have time to catch your breath," the teacher said, looking up from her lesson book, causing a little titter to run through the class.

"Excellent idea sensei, but today I was actually on time. I have a note from the principal excusing my tardiness," Malik grinned, handing over the note and then going and sliding into his seat next to Maria.

The teacher read over the note and then puzzled, went into the hallway. Coming back in, the teacher addressed the class. "Class, we have a new student today. Please welcome Rei Tsunami."

Rei entered and glanced around the room, causing a murmur to rise up. The look in her eyes was ice cold, and her outfit matched her stare. It was a gothic outfit that was mostly black, except for a little emerald green on the shirt

"So Rei, why don't you tell us about yourself," the teacher suggested.

Rei's eyes shifted into a look that reminded Maria strongly of Bakura and smirked. "There really isn't much to tell. You know my name, my age is none of your business, and neither is anything else," she answered in a dull voice, locking gazes with Malik and Maria.

Malik exchanged looks with Maria and just shrugged. Maria smiled a little when she heard that Rei was to sit in the seat next to her. The morning flew by quickly and soon it was time for lunch.

"Hey Maria," Yami said, coming up to the Maria and sitting next to her under their usual tree, waiting for the rest of the group, "I have to ask you something."

"Okay, what's up?" Maria asked, tipping her head in a way that Yami, for some odd reason, loved.

"Why does Rei look so familiar?" he asked as Yugi and the others came up, Yugi with Yami's lunch as well.

"You mean you don't know," Bakura scoffed, materializing next to Ryou with his arms crossed.

Yami scowled at Bakura. "No, dumbass, I don't know. You know that I lost my memories," Yami growled in reply.

Bakura's eyes narrowed to slits. "You call me a dumbass, but look who's talking. Your memories are never 'lost,' they are just where you can't reach them. At least I remember most of my past life," he shot back.

Maria groaned and held her head in her hands. "Will you two stop it?" she gritted out through clenched teeth. When Yami and Bakura chose to ignore her and continue arguing, Maria stood up, put a hand on the back of each of their heads, and clonked their heads together since they were only a few inches apart.

"Ow! What was that for?" Bakura demanded, both him and Yami reeling from the collision.

"Simple, you two were giving me a headache," she replied, walking off with a huff. Finding Seto, she sat down next to him and rested her head on her brother's shoulder as he typed on his laptop.

"Geek squad get on your nerves again?" Seto asked, pausing to stretch his fingers and glanced at Maria.

Maria nodded. "Two certain spirits to be precise," she grumbled.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "You actually believe that Yami and Bakura are spirits. Maria I'm surprised at you. I thought you had more logic than that," he scolded.

"You should drop out of reality sometime. Magic and occult can explain some things much better than science and logic can," Maria countered.

Seto sighed and shut off his laptop. "Want some of my lunch?" he asked, smoothly changing the subject.

"No, you know I don't eat lunch," Maria replied.

"I hope you're not trying to lose weight, you're thin enough."

"Seto, don't even talk about being underweight. Your weight for our height is supposed to be about 170's-180's, and you're what, 135?" Maria asked.

Seto huffed indignantly. "I'm 143," he snorted, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Same thing."

…

Maria sat with Rei in the library that afternoon, trying to teach Rei how to read the Japanese characters. The keyword there was trying.

"Fuck this Tsucci! I'm never going to be able to read this!" Rei snapped, throwing down her pen.

"Rei, how are you going to succeed in school if you don't learn this?" Maria asked with a sigh.

Rei narrowed her eyes. "I never wanted to go. Malik and Ishtar insisted. They said it would be good for me," she hissed.

Maria smiled a little in a teasing manner. "Since when is Rei bending to someone's will, especially a male's?" she asked, adopting a regal tone to her voice. Rei raised her eyebrows in surprise, and Maria jerked. "Sorry, I don't know where that came from," she apologized.

"I think I do," Rei said with a sudden interest, "I think your past life's soul was reborn in you. The past Tsucci would make the same remarks with the same tone of voice.

"But wouldn't I remember my past life?" Maria wondered.

"No," came a voice, causing both girls to look up to see Bakura standing there. At Maria's wondering glance, Bakura elaborated. "If Queen Maria's soul was reborn into this body, it would be a second soul in the body, because you can't truly be born twice,"

"Well, that does explain the faint whisper in my mind, and the weird flashback I had this morning."

"Weird flashback?" Bakura asked, slightly interested as he sat next to Rei.

Maria nodded and told the siblings about the flashback. Once she finished, Maria noticed that Bakura had a near invisible smirk on his face. "I know that it must have been from Egypt, because Yami was dressed as pharaoh, and Seto had the Millennium Rod," she pointed out.

"It was in Egypt. That must have been after I attacked the palace for the first time," Bakura recalled, remembering the queen's tears before she and Yami had attacked in return.

Maria nodded, thinking. "Umm, Bakura?"

"Yeah?" Bakura asked mildly, ready for another question about her past life.

"Will…will you help me remember all of my past life's memories, since I know I will be able to access them if I knew how?" Maria asked.

Rei looked from Maria, who didn't meet Bakura's eyes, to her beloved brother who was harboring an astounded expression on his face and smirked. She knew of his attraction to the spirited girl that sat on the other side of the table since they had grown up together in Egypt. This was going to be interesting to say the least…especially if it came to another competition for Maria's heart.

Bakura opened and closed his mouth in surprise. "You mean that? You want me to help?" he asked, losing his bravado and cocky tone.

Maria nodded. "Yami wouldn't be of much help, and I don't trust Ishtar," she explained.

"So I'm the last resort?" Bakura retorted with a skeptic voice.

"No! If you were the last resort, I'd have asked Rei first," Maria replied, causing Bakura to laugh.

"Very well, I'll help," he decided.

…

A few days later, Maria was sitting at her computer doing homework when her messenger sounded. Not recognizing the screen name, she opened it up cautiously. "Come over?" she read questioningly. 'Who is this?' she typed.

'Sigh, it's Bakura. I told Ryou to make the name recognizable,' came the reply.

Maria laughed out loud at this. 'WonderOfTheAncientWorld5000? Sounds like a computer program. Better not send Yami any messages with that name, he won't let you live it down,' she replied.

'…Damn it! Ryou! ...just come over as soon as possible before I decide to kill my hikari,' Bakura sent and then signed off.

Maria, still laughing, signed off as well and grabbing a jacket, headed to the Bakura residence. Reaching the house a little later, Maria's eyebrow raised at seeing Malik's motorcycle parked in the driveway.

"Hi Maria. Bakura and Malik are waiting for you in Bakura's room," Ryou said as he opened the door.

"Thanks Ryou," Maria replied as she headed upstairs. Entering Bakura's room, she noticed Bakura and Malik conversing in what sounded like Egyptian Arabic. "If you two are talking about me, I hope it's good stuff," she said, leaning against the doorframe.

Bakura turned and smirked as Malik opened an old book and started flipping through the pages. "Might as well remove your shoes and make yourself comfy," Bakura suggested.

Maria complied and settled onto a cushion next to Bakura. "I have two questions. One, what are we doing, and two, why is Malik here?"

Malik marked his place with a finger and looked up. "This book has been in my family for generations…probably since Ancient Egypt. There's a spell in here that will be useful in recovering your memories. I can't remember where it is in the book though," he explained before continuing.

Bakura looked bored. "Didn't you find it earlier and use the ribbon in the book to mark it?" he asked, Maria giggling at this.

Malik stopped and with an embarrassed grin opened the book to the ribbon. "Anyway, Maria, we are going to fuse your two souls together."

"What? Fuse my souls?"

"Remember that I told you that you had two?" Bakura reminded.

Maria nodded in understanding. "Okay, so besides providing the book, why is Malik here?" she questioned.

"You're asking a lot of questions," Bakura observed.

"And I'll probably have more as we discuss what we're doing in depth," Maria shot back.

"Leave her alone Bakura, she has a right to ask questions. The spell we are going to use is very tricky. I'm here to help with spell, seeing as in your case, we need to pull two souls out of your body. Bakura can't do it himself," Malik answered.

"Do we even need to do this? Is it really necessary for regaining my past life's memories?" Maria asked, uneasy about the pulling soul from body concept as Bakura and Malik pulled her up and drew a magic circle around her.

"It isn't necessary in the recovery aspect of your memories, but it is crucial to your health," Bakura replied. Seeing Maria's mouth open to ask yet another question, Bakura put a finger to her lips and applied a gentle pressure. "If we proceed without the complete union of your souls, you will slowly end up fully awakening your other half…the soul of your past life. Once she is awake, she can act like a regular yami, full body possession and everything," he explained softly.

"That doesn't sound so bad," Maria pointed out, taking Bakura's finger off of her mouth.

Malik smiled. "Maybe not immediately, but…certain circumstances may arise, and Queen Maria, we'll call her Ria so we don't address the wrong Maria, will push you down a path that you may not want to take. Your two souls will end up fighting, and you will destroy each other. Of course, then your body will die because no soul is sustaining it, and there'll be no more Tsucci," he explained, satisfied when Maria quickly shut her mouth.

Bakura rolled his eyes and taking his place across the decent sized circle from Malik, started chanting. Maria, standing in the middle of the circle, saw Malik and his Millennium Rod glow in response before he stepped forward into the circle and reached to grab Maria's hand. When Malik pulled back, Maria found herself going towards Malik even though she didn't move her feet. Infact, it felt like she was floating.

Looking back, Maria yelped and started to panic, seeing her body curled up on the floor. "Shh, don't panic, you're safe. As long as you remain in this magic circle you will stay connected to your body," Malik soothed, wrapping his arms around the frightened soul, the spell allowing him to hold onto her.

Maria quieted down and listened as Malik now repeated the chant for Bakura. As Bakura stepped into the circle, his appearance changed to that of the Thief King's. "Wow, Bakura was hot back then," Maria murmured once Malik fell silent, chanting done for now.

Malik snorted softly. "It's a good thing we're fusing your souls together then," he replied just as quiet.

Bakura chose to ignore the two, even though he couldn't hear what they were talking about, let alone saying. Getting to one knee, he picked up Ria's soul and returned to his spot but now just inside the circle.

Maria's mouth dropped open at the sight of the Egyptian queen. The queen looked to be around twenty and to Maria's eyes looked incredibly beautiful. Right away she could see differences between the them. Unlike her mid thigh/knee length hair, Ria's hair fell to about her waist and styled her bangs different.

"Ria, time to wake up, you've slept long enough," Bakura said softly, shaking the girl cradled in his arms gently.

Ria's eyes, already partially open but dead looking, slid closed and she curled up to Bakura's chest. "Five more minutes," she mumbled in Ancient Egyptian, Maria not understanding.

"No, It's time to wake up. There's someone here to meet you," Bakura replied in the same language.

Ria let out an exasperated sigh and opened her eyes again, the irises regaining their original alert sparkle. "Bakura, where's Yami?" she asked softly, taking a quick glance around the room before stopping. "And is that my reincarnate?"

"Well one, Yami isn't here because I still don't like him, and two, yes that is your reincarnate but she can't understand us. It would be better to stick to her language," Bakura suggested.

Maria watched as Bakura gently set the queen on her feet, noticing the bond between the two. Bakura seemed like an entirely different person than what she had seen before during Battle City. "Okay now, before we proceed, you two must decide on an appearance. This is important because your body will change to that appearance, and you two must be happy with it because you won't split apart again until death," Malik explained.

Maria and Ria were let go and they floated to the center, hovering over their body. "So what do you want to look like, for I don't want too much of one of us," Ria stated.

Maria nodded. "I'd like to keep my style and length of hair. Our eyes are exactly the same, so what part of you do you want to keep?" she asked.

Ria smirked. "I want to keep my skin color. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're too pale for my liking," she replied, her smirk becoming a smile.

Maria smiled as well. "No offense taken. Do you think we'll still be able to talk to each other?" When Ria shrugged, both turned to look at Malik.

"We're ready," the two chorused at the same time.

"Okay. Keep the image of your new appearance in your mind and concentrate on it," Bakura instructed before chanting in unison with Malik.

The fusion felt weird to Maria. First it felt like nothing was happening, and then it was as if both her and Ria were smushed together into one, but it was painless. Eventually the crowded feeling passed as the two fully fused together.

Bakura, seeing that the fusion was complete, started up another chant and gently guided the new soul back into Maria's body with a beam from the Millennium Ring, Malik finishing up the first spell.

"Thanks Malik," he sighed, feeling drained once both finished. Kneeling down, he scooped the body up and smiled a little, feeling Maria cling to his coat in sleep as he stood.

"You're welcome. Just so you know, you probably won't be back to normal until tomorrow morning," Malik yawned.

"I don't mind being back in my old body," Bakura shrugged, laying Maria down on his bed, noticing skin changes already starting. "Ryou made you a bed on the couch. Go get some rest," he added.

Malik yawned again. "And where, may I ask, are you going to sleep?" he asked with a smirk, already figuring the answer out.

"In my bed of course."

"She is soo going to freak. I'll see you in the morning," Malik laughed as he left the room and headed downstairs.

Bakura shut the door and turned off the main light, his bedside lamp the only source of light left. Climbing up onto his bed, he carefully maneuvered Maria under the covers and joined her after turning off his lamp. He lay there for a while, unable to sleep even though he was exhausted. Trying to figure out why, Bakura jumped when he felt Maria cuddle up to him in the darkness.

'Oh, that's why. I'm not used to having someone sleep beside me,' Bakura realized. Wrapping his arms around Maria, he soon drifted off to sleep.

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YSF: Aww, cute image, Bakura cuddling with someone! How's Maria going to deal with this situation when she wakes up? Find out next time. Review! …please?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

Becoming Equals

Bakura shut the door and turned off the main light, his bedside lamp the only source of light left. Climbing up onto his bed, he carefully maneuvered Maria under the covers and joined her after turning off his lamp. He lay there for a while, unable to sleep even though he was exhausted. Trying to figure out why, Bakura jumped when he felt Maria cuddle up to him in the darkness.

'Oh, that's why. I'm not used to having someone sleep beside me,' Bakura realized. Wrapping his arms around Maria, he soon drifted off to sleep.

…

The next morning, Maria stirred and woke up, wondering where she was. Going to get up, she froze as she just now felt the arms around her waist holding her down. Not stopping to think about the situation or trying to find the identity of the person, she panicked and started trying to get out of the grip.

Bakura was just starting to stir from the movements, so his eyes were still closed. Unfortunately, that meant he didn't see the elbow…"Ow!" Bakura exclaimed, sitting up and clamping a hand to his nose.

Maria stopped her struggling since Bakura had let her go and slowly turned. Seeing Bakura with his eyes squeezed shut, holding his nose, she sat up. "Bakura, what happened?" she asked.

Bakura opened his eyes and glared at Maria. "I wath thleeping, and you went and elbowed me in the nothe!" he growled angrily.

Maria giggled. "You can't say your s' very well, can you?" she laughed but then fell silent when Bakura growled again. "I'm sorry, but I panicked when I felt your arms around me. I didn't mean to hit you in the nose," she apologized.

Bakura nodded and pulled his hand away from his nose. "I can feel blood still running, but do you think it's broken?" he asked, licking the blood off his palm and fingers.

"Here, lay back and let me see," Maria replied and guided Bakura back so he didn't jar his nose any further. Tipping the albino's head back, she gently touched his nose, pulling back when he winced. "It's not broken, but it is bruised pretty nicely," Maria told him, applying pressure to his nose with a tissue to stop the bleeding.

Bakura tried to get up but was pushed back down. "Let me go before I get angry," he said in a low voice, swatting Maria's hand away and sitting up. Wiping the blood of his lip, he stopped when he noticed that no more came out of his nose. "How did you get it to stop that fast?" he wondered.

"When you're one of the oldest kids in an orphanage, you tend to learn these things," Maria replied with a sad smile.

Bakura looked surprised. "You grew up in an orphanage?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, why?"

Bakura shrugged. "It's nothing. History is just tending to repeat itself a little too accurately. In your past life, you grew up on the streets and then your brother found you when you had gone to become a priestess."

"I thought that I was queen."

"You were, but before Yami married you, you were one of his most trusted priests."

Maria nodded, able to remember that now. "Come on, let's go have breakfast," she said, standing. Bakura nodded and followed her out of the room.

"By the way, did you figure out my riddle yet?" Bakura asked as they followed the smell of breakfast down the stairs.

"Passion must have cooled, and all the magic should have died by now. I still have no clue," she replied.

Bakura came up behind Maria and pulled her close to him. "You'll figure it out eventually once we truly get rolling on awakening all of your memories since you are both Tsucci and Queen Maria now," he assured softly, brushing a feather light kiss over Maria's earlobe.

Maria shivered and pulled away. "Bakura, do you like me or something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…I…" Bakura stammered nervously, but was saved when Malik walked out of the kitchen.

"There you two are. Come on, Ryou won't serve breakfast until you two are in here," he huffed, turning and heading back in.

"This conversation isn't done," Maria murmured, following Malik.

"Bakura, why is there blood on your face?" Ryou asked as he started to serve breakfast.

"Maria elbowed me in the face accidentally and my nose started bleeding," he grumbled, smacking Malik on the back of his head when he started laughing.

"Oh, okay," Ryou shrugged.

Some time later Maria left Ryou's house. Returning home, she took a shower and changed clothes before heading to her favorite thinking spot in a tree in the park. Settling into the crook in the limb, Maria closed her eyes and tried to remember something of her past life. Not finding a good enough anchor to start from, she cast her mind out and concentrated on her and Rei's and Bakura's conversations. 'That's it! Rei!' she thought excitedly.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated on the sarcastic girl and almost immediately images came up, passing behind her closed eyelids. Memories of Queen Maria, Rei, and Bakura playing, their ages being about seven or eight, Rei being only about four…Watching Rei tend to a scar that trailed down Bakura's face from his forehead to level with his mouth.

Maria opened her eyes again. "Oh my Ra. Merging with my past self is like gaining a search engine of memories," she mumbled. Looking out between the leaves, Maria saw Rei walking through the park.

Rei strolled through the park, trying to get Ishtar out of her mind. The spirit was trying a little too hard to get close to her. Growling, Rei kicked a stone down the path and shoved her hands into her hoodie pockets. 'I bet his look alike…Malik I'm pretty sure his name is…is going to be just like him,' she thought, before hearing a rustle.

Glancing up, Rei smirked at seeing some leaves still trembling on a tree. Going under it, she looked up into the mass of leaves. "Tsucci, I know you're up there," she called. There was some silence and then she heard Maria trying to caw like a crow. "Get down here, you aren't fooling me."

Maria swung out of the tree and landed gracefully after a few seconds. "How did you know I was up there?" she asked.

"Easy. I saw you when I was a distance from the tree. Red shows really good through leaves," Rei replied, chuckling a little when Maria looked down at her red shirt and cursed.

"So, how is living in GHOULS?" Maria asked, changing the subject.

"Ishtar is trying to get a little too close," Rei grumbled.

Maria smiled softly. "Well I can't blame him," she stated, "He's been in love with you since he met you over 5000 years ago."

"That was a long time ago. Tsucci, my heart is a cold stone. There's no more room for love except for what I have for my brother," Rei replied, her tone becoming slightly softer.

"Oh? And what about me?"

Rei snorted. "Maria, if I loved you, I'd be a lesbian. No, what I feel is a certain…kinship towards you," she explained, "You really are a silly girl."

"I am not!" Maria snapped. Seeing Rei nod with a smirk on her face, she huffed and turned away.

"Oh that reminds me…how the heck did you become so tan within a few days?" Rei asked.

Maria turned back around. "Bakura and Malik fused my souls together. Queen Maria wanted to keep her tan," she explained.

Rei nodded. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I must get going. Ishtar's hikari is taking me to get paint and whatnot for my room."

"You mean Malik?"

"Whatever! It is puzzling though. He looks just like Ishtar, but I know Ishtar didn't have kids. You think that gene pool would have died," Rei said, continuing to walk, Maria deciding to join her.

Maria put her hand on Rei's shoulder so she wouldn't run into a tree and closed her eyes. Concentrating on Ishtar, she came up with another of her ancient memories.

_Flashback_

_"Seto, Isis, you are prepared to take up the role as tomb keeper?" Maria heard herself say._

_"Yes my queen. It is my duty as the last of the Yihimi line to continue the tomb keeping bloodline," Isis replied with a small bow, Seto, her new husband standing alongside._

_"The Yihimi line? Mommy, what's that?" Maria heard a little voice ask. Turning, she spotted a little version of Yugi standing next to the throne she was sitting on._

_"Well Yugi, that is my family name. And since my younger brother, the true heir to the bloodline was executed last year, I am the only one left to fulfill the obligation," Isis explained._

_"Who was your brother? Please don't tell me that it was Bakura," Seto groaned._

_Isis laughed. "No, my brother was Ishtar…You know, the blonde who you loathed so much."_

_Maria also laughed at her brother's astounded face. "And I know the perfect topper. Seto, he was our cousin as well," she laughed._

_Seto groaned again and buried his face in his hands. "This soo isn't happening."_

_End flashback_

Maria opened her eyes and removed her hand from Rei's shoulder. "Well?" Rei questioned.

"Priestess Isis was Ishtar's older sister. She must have been allowed to become a priestess because she wasn't the heir to Ishtar's bloodline. Maybe we should ask Ishtar," Maria replied.

Rei shrugged and looked forward again. "Come with me. You can help us with the painting."

Maria nodded and followed Rei to GHOULS. Rei led Maria into the throne room where Malik and Ishtar were waiting. "I recruited Maria to help," Rei explained.

Ishtar nodded and pushed off the wall from where he was leaning as Malik stood from his throne. "We have one rule. You can make your room and its furnishings any color you want, but you must have a second color somewhere in the room," Malik instructed as they walked.

Rei glanced at Maria and rolled her eyes when Malik wasn't looking. "I want a black room and furnishings," Rei decided.

Ishtar looked over his shoulder at the two. "You need a second color," he pointed out.

"I know that. I'll find something else of a different color," Rei growled, satisfied when Ishtar glared at her but turned around again.

A couple hours later, Rei had everything for her room…and all of it was black. "Rei, I hope you're not trying to fool us. You still need a second color," Malik pointed out.

Maria looked around and spotting a red pillow, placed it into the shopping cart. "There, there's your second color," she replied. Rei just blinked in surprise and then laughed.

Ishtar chuckled and shook his head. "Works for me," he stated, heading towards the cash out.

…

Yami walked down the street towards Ryou's house. He needed to talk with Bakura. Yugi had offered to come with him, but Yami declined, knowing Yugi would just go to prevent him and Bakura from fighting. Stepping up onto the front porch, Yami steeled himself and knocked on the front door.

The door opened partially and Ryou stuck his head out. "Oh, hello Yami. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I need to speak with Bakura, is he here?"

Ryou blinked in surprise. "Yes, he's up in his room. Come in and wait in the living room. I'll go get him," Ryou answered, letting the former pharaoh in and taking the stairs two at a time. Yami went into the living room and stood, looking out the window.

Yami hadn't been standing there long when he suddenly heard a voice behind him. "What do you want Pharaoh? Ryou said you needed to speak with me," Bakura said.

Yami turned and blinked at Bakura before bursting out laughing.

"What now?" Bakura demanded from where he was leaning against the wall.

"What the hell happened to your nose? It's all bruised," Yami managed to say. Between laughs and gasps for air

Bakura bristled and Yami found a dagger pressed to his throat. "My nose is none of your business. Say what you came to say and leave before I kill you," he hissed.

Yami no longer found the situation funny. "I came to talk to you about Maria."

"What about her?" Bakura asked, lowering his bblade and stepping away.

"Stay away from her."

"You can't tell me what to do. You're not pharaoh anymore," Bakura growled.

"I like her and I am going to ask her out tomorrow. If she accepts, I don't want you coming near her," Yami explained.

Bakura threw back his head and laughed dangerously. "What makes you think I'm going to let you do that?" he demanded, "You had her last lifetime. It's your own fault that you killed yourself at a young age. I gave her up once, and I don't intend on doing that a second time."

"What do you mean, 'gave her up?'" Yami wondered.

"Once she was mad at you, and you had me captured. You set me free with conditions that don't matter anymore, and I convinced her to give you a chance even though it hurt my heart to do it," Bakura snapped.

Yami looked uncomfortable and headed towards the door. "I'm giving you fair warning. Stay out of my way and once she's my girlfriend, stay away from her," he warned.

"No." Yami froze and turned. "What?"

"I'm not just going to step to the side mr high and mighty. If you want her so badly, you have to beat me to the punch," Bakura challenged.

Yami stared at Bakura incredulously. "You're saying that you're willing to compete for her heart," he repeated slowly.

"Ah so he can use his brain for interpretation. Miracles do happen," Bakura mocked.

Yami grew angry. "Fine. I'll play your game. We'll see just who wins. I want higher stakes though."

"Name them then," Bakura replied with a shrug.

"Very well, If I win, you have to give up chasing after Maria. You also have to stop going after me," Yami listed.

Bakura gritted his teeth. "Fine, but if I win, you have to give up chasing after Maria, you can't boast that you never lose because that's a load of shit already, and you can't banish me to the Shadow Realm on a regular basis," Bakura replied, laying his own terms down.

Yami contemplated those conditions and nodded before holding out his hand. "We have a deal then?" he asked.

Bakura grimaced at the thought of taking the pharaoh's hand, but took it anyway. "Deal," he replied. At the same time, both items glowed and a sheet of paper listing the conditions appeared between the two. "I'll have Ryou keep this safe," Bakura said, letting Yami's hand go and picking up the paper, "In the meantime, leave."

As Yami turned and walked off, Bakura's voice made him stop and turn back.

"Pharaoh, one date doesn't mean anything. We have to get Maria to consent to being one of our girlfriends, and the other has to hear it straight from her mouth. That way, we can't fabricate the win," Bakura reasoned.

Yami thought about it and nodded. Turning, after he exited the house, he spotted Bakura watching him from the living room window. "Let the games begin," Yami called with a smirk before walking off down the street.

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YSF: Now it's finally getting interesting. Who makes the first move? Find out next time. Review! …please?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to. I also don't own "Good Enough" by Evanescence and "Someone That You're With" by Nickelback

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

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Becoming Equals

"Pharaoh, one date doesn't mean anything. We have to get Maria to consent to being one of our girlfriends, and the other has to hear it straight from her mouth. That way, we can't fabricate the win," Bakura reasoned.

Yami thought about it and nodded. Turning, after he exited the house, he spotted Bakura watching him from the living room window. "Let the games begin," Yami called with a smirk before walking off down the street.

…

The next morning, Bakura lay on his bed and tried to muster up the courage to give Maria a call. Deciding to wait a little, Bakura picked up a remote and turned on his radio. Hearing a tantalizing melody float from the speakers, Bakura closed his eyes and relaxed to the music. As the lyrics progressed, Bakura found himself relating to the words.

_Under your spell again_

_I can't say no to you_

_Crave my heart and it's bleeding in your hand_

_I can't say no to you_

_Shouldn't have let you torture me so sweetly._

_Now I can't let go of this dream_

_I can't breathe but I can feel_

_Good enough_

_I feel good enough for you._

_Drink up the sweet decadence_

_I can't say no to you_

_And I've completely lost myself_

_And I don't mind_

_I can't say no to you_

_Shouldn't have let you_

_Conquer me completely._

_Now I can't let go of this dream_

_Can't believe that I feel_

_Good enough_

_I feel good enough_

_It's been such a long time coming,_

_But I feel good_

_And I'm still waiting for the rain to fall_

_Pour real life down on me_

_Cause I can't hold onto anything this good enough_

_Am I good enough_

_For you to love me too?_

_So take care what you ask of me_

_Cause I can't say no._

Bakura reached for his remote and was about to turn the radio off when another song that he liked came on. "Now this definitely describes mine and the pharaoh's contest," he laughed. Little did he know, Yami was listening to the same radio station.

_I reside in 209, and you're in 208_

_You moved in last Friday night,_

_and I just couldn't wait._

_So I tried to call across the hall,_

_to ask you out someday._

_But a line had formed outside your door,_

_And I was way too late._

_Well I'd rather start off slow_

_This whole thing's like some sort of race._

_Instead of winning what I want,_

_I'm sitting here in second place._

_Because somewhere the one I wanna be with is with somebody else_

_Oh God I wanna be that someone that you're with._

_And I can talk about it all day long_

_Till I run out of breath._

_But I still wanna be that someone that you're with._

_I've got to be that someone that you're with_

_And I'm pacing by the phone_

'_Cause I hate to be alone_

_And if you're out there with him somewhere_

_just about to kiss,_

_God I wanna be that someone that you're with!_

Yami frowned and sat up from where he was lounging on the window seat in his room. He knew that he would feel those same emotions if Bakura beat him to the punch. 'I think I'll wait until the end of this song. Bakura is probably still asleep,' Yami thought, returning to his spot.

_Well I hear your favorite songs_

_you sing along with everyday._

_And I borrow things that I don't need_

_for conversation's sake._

_Last I heard your key,_

_It hit your lock at 4am_

_Instead of being out with me,_

_you must be out with them._

_Well I'd rather start off slow_

_This whole thing's like some sort of race._

_Instead of winning what I want,_

_I'm sitting here in second place._

_Because somewhere the one I wanna be with is with somebody else_

_Oh God I wanna be that someone that you're with._

_And I can talk about it all day long_

_Till I run out of breath._

_But I still wanna be that someone that you're with._

_I've got to be that someone that you're with_

_And I'm pacing by the phone_

'_Cause I hate to be alone_

_And if you're out there with him somewhere_

_just about to kiss,_

_God I wanna be that someone that you're with!_

_Because somewhere the one I wanna be with is with somebody else_

_Oh God I wanna be that someone that you're with._

_And I can talk about it all day long_

_Till I run out of breath._

_But I still wanna be that someone that you're with._

_I've got to be that someone that you're with_

_And I'm pacing by the phone_

'_Cause I hate to be alone_

_And if you're out there with him somewhere_

_just about to kiss,_

_God I wanna be that someone that you're with!_

Almost at the same time, Bakura and Yami sat up and reached for the phone at the same time. Both sets of fingers flew over the buttons, dialing Maria's line in the Kaiba mansion. Bakura figured that Yami was dialing at the same time and tried to go faster without messing up.

_Well somewhere the one I wanna be with is with somebody else_

_Oh God I wanna be that someone that you're with._

_And I can talk about it all day long_

_Till I run out of breath._

_But I still wanna be that someone that you're with._

_I've got to be that someone that you're with_

At the Kaiba Mansion, Maria looked up from her book as her phone rang. Picking up the receiver, she put it to her ear. "Hello?" she asked.

Bakura growled in annoyance when his receiver got a busy signal. "Damn you Pharaoh! Don't think you have an advantage just because you get the first date," he snarled at no one in particular and slammed the phone back in the cradle.

_And I'm pacing by the phone_

'_Cause I hate to be alone_

_And if you're out there with him somewhere_

_just about to kiss,_

_God I wanna be that someone that_

_I wanna be that someone that_

_I've got to be that someone that you're with!_

Yami sighed in relief at getting through. "Hey Maria, I was wondering if you have anything planned tonight," he started.

Maria rolled over onto her back so her head and hair were dangling off of the bed. "Not that I know of, why?" she replied.

Yami swallowed. "Well, do you want to go out with me on a date tonight?" he asked.

Maria sat bolt upright and stared at the phone. "Did you just say what I thought you said?" she whispered.

"Yes," Yami assured.

"Oh, sorry, you just surprised me. I'd like that," Maria replied after a second.

Yami grinned. Score one for the pharaoh. "Great. Come to the Game Shop around seven," he instructed. After another minute of talking, they hung up.

…

Towards seven, Maria found herself standing a few houses down from the Game Shop, trying to slow her jitters. 'Why does a part of me not want to do this and would rather be working on my memories with Bakura?' she wondered, but let it go with a shrug and walked the remaining distance.

Yami opened the door at Maria's knock and smiled. "Ready to go?" Yami asked.

Maria nodded and accepting his arm, walked next to the former pharaoh. "So where are we going?" she asked.

Yami thought playfully. "Well, I was going to give you a choice. We are going to dinner, and then you can choose between dancing and a movie afterwards," he answered.

After a bit of walking in the cooling air, the two reached a nicer restaurant. After placing their orders, Maria tried to think of a good conversation topic.

"How much of your past life do you remember?" Yami asked after a few minutes of peaceful silence.

"Not much. I know that Seto was my brother as usual, and I only have fragments of memories," Maria replied.

"Do you know that you were my wife back then?" Yami asked softly.

Maria nodded. "The day that Rei started school, I remember that right before the day started, I had a flashback. I didn't understand it, but the feeling I got was that we were married," she said slowly.

"I only remember very few things. I remember that you were obviously my queen, and I get the feeling that it was a love at first sight scenario," Yami admitted.

"I get that too,"

Neither said anymore on the topic, for their food came at that moment. They spent the rest of dinner bantering and talking about upcoming tournaments. Once dinner was over, Maria decided to go dancing, so Yami took her to a club and they spent a couple hours dancing. Finally, Yami topped off the date by taking Maria for a moonlight stroll on the beach eating ice cream as a dessert. "Maria?"

Maria shook herself out of her daydream. "Yes Yami?" she replied, intertwining her free hand with his and licking her ice cream.

Yami stopped her and turning the girl towards him, leaned down to kiss Maria. Pulling away after a short time, he looked into the confused sapphire eyes. "I've been thinking all evening about our being together back in Egypt. And I was wondering…would you like to continue our relationship?" he wondered.

Maria stared in shock. Yami wanted her to be his girlfriend? Just before she opened her mouth to reply, Bakura's voice and parts of her and Malik's conversations ran through her head.

'_Passion must have cooled, and all of the magic should have died by now.'  
_

'…_"That doesn't sound so bad," Maria pointed out, taking Bakura's finger off of her mouth._

_Malik smiled. "Maybe not immediately, but…certain circumstances may arise, and Queen Maria, we'll call her Ria so we don't address the wrong Maria, will push you down a path that you may not want to take...'_

'…_"Wow, Bakura was hot back then," Maria murmured once Malik fell silent, chanting done for now._

_Malik snorted softly. "It's a good thing we're fusing your souls together then," he replied just as quiet.'_

Maria quickly tried to think about the pros and cons of going out with Yami while they continued to walk. Something inside her was fighting to reject it. Thinking of Bakura's riddle, she realized that it made sense now. "Yami, can I have some time to think about it?" she asked finally.

Yami nodded gently. "Take all of the time you need," he replied softly, giving her another kiss on the lips. The two continued to walk for a while longer until Yami took Maria home.

Finally getting to her room, Maria flopped onto her bed and fell asleep a few minutes later before she even had a chance to change. Feeling a nudging in her mind while she slept, Maria followed it and came upon Queen Maria standing with her arms crossed.

"What is it?" Maria asked.

The ancient queen sighed. 'I want to get back together with Yami, but your half of our soul is resisting quite strongly,' she replied.

"Maria, I know you do…after all, you two were lovers. However, Bakura's riddle makes sense. We haven't seen him in 5,000 years. How do you expect the bond to have lasted?" Tsucci reasoned.

Queen Maria grumbled to herself for a minute. 'The bond must have if he still wants to be with us,' she argued before approaching her other half and placing Tsucci's hands on either side of her head near her crown, and then placing her own hands in the same spots of the head as Tsucci's hands were placed.

"Maria, what are we doing?" Maria asked.

The queen smirked. 'I'm going to show you a memory of mine that proves Yami truly wants to be with us still,' she replied before pulling up the memory.

_Flashback_

"_But why do you have to sacrifice yourself? Can't you sacrifice someone else?" Maria demanded, traveling at a brisk step as she struggled to keep up with Yami's faster pace._

"_Because it has to be the strongest item holder in order for the magic to keep the shadows sealed up tight," Yami explained._

_Maria stopped and grabbed Yami's hand, effectively stopping the pharaoh. "Don't do this. What will I tell Yugi? You're just going to leave him without a father at the age of five?" she murmured._

_Yami sighed and gently kissed his queen. "Everyday, the shadows get a little more out of control. If I wait another month, I will have lost all control over them. Explain this all to Yugi when he gets old enough to understand."_

_Maria nodded and summoning a guard, sent for Yugi. Both rulers stood, watching each other and trying to determine what the other was thinking. Suddenly, Yami stepped forward and embraced Maria gently. Maria cupped his face in her hands and kissed the familiar lips as long as her breath could hold out. "It's not like our separation is forever. We'll be together again in the Afterlife," Maria assured herself, pulling back a bit and allowing her fingers to trace some stress lines on Yami's face that showed how much strain the shadows were putting on him and understood then that he needed to do this._

"_Daddy! Mommy! What's going on?" Yugi asked, running up to where they were standing. The fight against the shadows had caused Yugi to advance mentally by about two years on the reason that he needed to be responsible and stay out of mischief. His parents had enough on their plates without having to worry about him._

_Yami knelt and pulled Yugi into a hug. "Be a good boy for your mother," he murmured._

"_Why, where are you going?" Yugi asked as Yami stood back up._

_Yami bit his lip. "Yugi, you know how the shadows are slowly enveloping this land. I am going to sacrifice myself to lock them away forever," he answered after a minute._

_Yugi's eyes immediately filled up with tears, and he launched himself back into Yami's arms. "I'll miss you," Yugi sobbed._

_Yami held him for another minute before handing him to Maria before continuing on his way, his family following behind him._

_Maria set Yugi down on the platform where their thrones were sitting and hurried down the steps to Yami. Yami embraced her for the final time and breathed in the scent of her hair. "I'll find you again and we'll be together once more," he promised before pushing Maria away gently and quickly performing the sacrificing ritual on himself before he could change his mind, not realizing at the moment that he was using the same dagger that sealed away Bakura and Ishtar._

_End Flashback_

Ria let Tsucci go and stepped back. 'See, this is why I want to get back together with him,' she finished.

Maria shook her head to clear the cobwebs. "The problem is that I don't. You already had your time. I want to be with Bakura. He too has loved us since we were little. Do you dare destroy his heart and your friendship?" she challenged.

Ria growled low in her throat. 'I guess we can give it a try. If it doesn't work though, I will break it off regardless of what you say.'

Maria smiled and hugged her other half tightly. "Thank you!" she exclaimed.

Ria couldn't help but smile as well. "You're welcome, now let's go back to sleep."

…

The next day, Maria was awoken by her phone ringing. With a muffled curse, she put her head under her pillow. When the ringing persisted, she reached for her phone and answered it. "Hello?" she mumbled.

"Good morning sleeping beauty," Bakura's voice answered with a laugh.

"What? What time is it?" Maria asked, and Bakura could tell that Maria was really tired.

"It's about 1 in the afternoon," Bakura replied and heard a groan from the other end. "What?" he asked.

"It's nothing, I just overslept and Seto's going to kill me. I promised to work at Kaiba Corp today," Maria explained with a yawn.

"Oh. Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to have a picnic dinner with me tonight, but since you can't, want to have it tomorrow?"

Maria smiled and then remembered that Bakura couldn't see her. "I would love to," she replied finally, "Bakura, I don't mean to be rude, but I need to go before I get an earful from Seto." Bakura understood and saying goodbye, hung up.

An hour later, Maria was in a Kaiba Corp Limo riding to the offices. Her hair was braided and twisted to look more sophisticated, and she was dressed in a business suit with a skirt. "Roland, can I ask you a hypothetical question?"

"I'll try to answer it, miss Tsuconnichi." Roland replied, looking in the mirror at his passenger.

"Let's say you had two people competing for you heart. Who would you choose?" she asked.

Roland thought for a second. "I would pick the one who made me the happiest and most complete. Who are these men that seek your heart?" he replied.

Maria grinned, impressed that Roland saw through it. "Yami Mouto and my friend Bakura."

"The soft-spoken Brit?"

"His brother," she corrected.

Roland laughed. "Well, your own brother would freak if you dated Yami, seeing as they are rivals. If I were to use that as part of my considering for choosing, I'd go with this Bakura character," he answered as he stopped the limo and let her out.

Maria nodded in thanks and hurried into the building and up to her office. While in the limo, she had managed to make up some of the work that she missed on her laptop. Hearing her door open a few minutes later, she glanced down at the little screen in her desk that was connected to a camera hidden in the wall behind her. Seeing Seto standing there with his arms crossed, waiting for her to notice him, she smirked and continued typing without looking up.

"Yes Seto? What can I help you with since you require something besides just standing there?" she asked, still not looking up. On screen, Seto smirked in spite of his apparent annoyance.

"Oh? What makes you think I'm here for reasons other than just standing here disturbing you?" he asked in reply.

"Because you're not like that," Maria answered, finally looking up.

Seto's smirk flickered away. "You're late."

"No shit. I slept past my alarm."

"Do you realize that you missed the meeting about our new duel disk?" Seto pressed, satisfied when his twin's eyes widened and she thunked her head on the desk. He knew that she had plenty of ideas for it, so it was soothing knowing that she regretted sleeping in. "Just letting you know so you don't sleep in again after being on a date until three in the morning," Seto stated as he turned and left.

Maria stuck out her tongue at his back and went back to work before a thought crossed her mind.

"Wait, Seto, what were you doing up at three in the morning if you worked at eight?" she demanded.

Seto turned from where he was about to go back into his own office and smirked again. "When you left for your date, I figured you'd be late to work today, so I decided to upload your diagrams and ideas for the duel disk onto my laptop from yours. You had so much, it took me until 3:30 to get all of it transferred," he explained.

"Seto I hate you," Maria groaned, "I'll get you back, just wait."

Seto just rolled his eyes and headed into his office. Maria swiveled her chair and looked out the vast window. Her office was approximately half of the circular floor on the top of Kaiba Corp, and gave her a nice view of the city and harbor.

With a sigh, Maria wished she wasn't working today and turning back around, started refining the design of the new duel disk. Seto was planning on setting up a dueling school since Duel Monsters was rapidly accelerating in popularity and was now considered a profession if you were good enough. To tell the students apart from non-students, a new duel disk was in the works. That's what Maria was working on.

…

Towards evening, Bakura was checking his email after getting Ryou to change his email address. Seeing a message from Yami, Bakura opened it suspiciously and growled when it showed a score board edited to have their names on it and reading: Yami 1 Bakura 0.

Not bothering to write an email in reply, Bakura dialed the game shop and waited patiently until Yugi answered. "Let me talk to the pharaoh," Bakura ground out.

"Do I want to know why?" Yugi asked suspiciously.

"It doesn't concern you, I just need to talk to him for a minute."

Bakura heard Yugi sigh and put down the phone and call for Yami. Hearing Yami respond, Bakura almost started laughing when Yugi wouldn't tell the pharaoh who the call was from and only told him it was for him.

"Hello?" Yami asked.

"Hello pharaoh," Bakura answered, smirking when Yami cursed, "I got your email and wished to tell you that your fucking count is off. As of tomorrow, it will be 1 to 1."

To Bakura's surprise, Yami just laughed. "Do you think your little date is going to mean anything?" he demanded, "I asked Maria yesterday if she would be my girlfriend, and she said she'll think about it."

Bakura growled. "Then I guess I'll have to sway her," he ground out before slamming the receiver down. Picking up one of his favorite daggers, Bakura hurled it into a target that had Yami's face on it that Bakura had cut out from a magazine and enlarged.

…

The next day, about five o'clock, Bakura sat under a tree in the park with the picnic basket near him. He and Maria had agreed to meet in the park, since they pretty much lived on opposite sides of town.

"Hi Bakura," Maria said, sitting down next to him on the blanket.

Bakura turned and smiled. "Ready to eat?" he asked. When Maria nodded, he opened the basket and pulled out sandwiches, watermelon, and other picnic foods. "I'm not much of a chef," he explained at Maria's raised eyebrow.

Both ate for a while with some meaningless conversation, when Maria remembered what she wanted to tell Bakura. "Bakura, I think I figured out your riddle," she said.

"Oh? Do tell, I'll let you know if you're correct," Bakura replied, offering Maria a strawberry.

Maria giggled and took a second to allow him to feed it to her. "I think that since I was Yami's wife back in Ancient Egypt, we must have been in love, and there must have been passion and the 'magic' of love between me and him."

"Go on, you're correct so far," Bakura answered, feeding Maria another strawberry.

"Well, that was five thousand years ago, and we really haven't seen each other since. Therefore, we shouldn't still be in love, even though there may be faint traces left over, especially since I'm fused with my past life." she finished. Waiting for Bakura to say something, Maria was surprised when he knocked her over onto her back and hovered over her on his hands and knees. "Bakura?" she asked hesitantly, seeing the same smoldering fire in his eyes that was present when he delivered the riddle.

"I think he's had you long enough, don't you?" he asked smoothly and in a low voice. Not waiting for an answer, he leaned down and kissed Maria. Maria hesitated and then kissed back, threading her fingers into his hair. They stayed like that until they both ran out of air. Pulling apart slightly, Bakura smirked at Maria. "Well?" he asked.

Maria blushed lightly. "I…I would like to be with you," she replied before kissing Bakura again. When they broke apart again, Bakura sat back and allowed Maria to sit up.

"I do have a bit of a confession though," Bakura admitted, "I was going to wait a little longer until you remembered more, but the other day, Yami came over and told me to stay away from you. I told him that that wasn't going to happen, so we made a contest of some sort. Whoever could get you to agree to being their girlfriend wins."

"So you asked me to be your girlfriend so Yami wouldn't get me?" Maria asked slowly, confused, and slightly suspicious.

"Well, yes and no. I want you to be my girlfriend because I am truly in love with you. Beating Yami in his own challenge was just a plus. I said I wouldn't just step to the side and give you up, and Yami turned it into a challenge," Bakura explained in defense.

Maria grinned and kissed Bakura again. "Then I guess you are the winner. How are you going to tell Yami?" she asked.

"That's where you come in. You have to tell who you want to be the girlfriend of in front of both of us so we can't fabricate the win," he explained.

Maria nodded before picking up a strawberry from the container and holding it towards Bakura. "Open."

"I don't want any, I brought them to feed them to you," he declined. Maria didn't seem to want to take no for an answer and held it towards him again. Bakura leaned farther away every time Maria advanced and ended up falling over onto his back.

In an instant, Maria was sitting on his stomach. "Now you have to open, or I'm not getting up," she stated.

Bakura smirked and folded his arms behind his head. "Maybe I'm enjoying this interesting position," he replied. Seeing the disappointed look on her face, Bakura knew he'd be wrapped around her little finger soon enough. "Fine, but only if you share it with me," he sighed.

Maria put the strawberry halfway into her mouth and leaned down, placing the strawberry in Bakura's mouth. Both at the same time bit it in half and swallowed their half while still in a lip lock. "So was dinner all you had planned?" Maria asked, laying down on top of Bakura's chest, listening to the rhythmic heartbeat.

Bakura stroked the smooth brown hair and gazed up at the sky, watching the clouds turn pink and purple with the setting sun. "No, I was planning on taking you to that carnival that just opened yesterday once it got dark out," he replied.

Both lay there, digesting their food and watching the sunset until Bakura finally shifted and stretched, causing Maria to slip off with an 'oomph'. "What do you think Tsucci, is it dark enough?" he asked as he stood and helped the girl up.

Maria nodded eagerly and taking Bakura's hand after he stashed the blanket and basket, headed to where the carnival was in the open grass in the park.

3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333

YSF: Aww! How cute once again! How do you think Yami will react to this? Will he flip out, act hurt, or just shrug and admit that Bakura won? Tell me what you think and find out next time! Review!…please?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

2222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222

Becoming Equals

Both lay there, digesting their food and watching the sunset until Bakura finally shifted and stretched, causing Maria to slip off with an 'oomph'. "What do you think Tsucci, is it dark enough?" he asked as he stood and helped the girl up.

Maria nodded eagerly and taking Bakura's hand after he stashed the blanket and basket, headed to where the carnival was in the open clearing in the park.

When they got there, both gaped at the sheer size of the carnival. "They went all out this year. It's huge!" Maria stated, squeezing Bakura's hand lightly. Bakura just smiled and returning the squeeze, led the way.

Some hours later, Maria and Bakura had done everything that they could think of. Bakura had even won Maria a stuffed animal, which she was currently cuddling with one arm.

Bakura smiled when Maria yawned and rested her head on his shoulder. "Tired?" he asked, receiving a nod.

Maria shifted her arm to glance at her watch. "I know why I'm tired," she laughed suddenly, "It's almost midnight!"

Bakura shook his head lightly. "Do you want me to take you home, or do you want to sleep over again?" he asked as they left the carnival and returned to the tree where they ate dinner.

Maria laughed as he tossed the blanket onto her so that it covered her head like an opaque veil. "I guess I'll go home, but you are welcome to stay the night," she replied as she pulled the blanket off and wrapped it around her to keep out the cool night air.

"Perhaps, I'll decide when we get there." Bakura picked up the basket with one hand and wrapped his other arm around Maria. With that, both headed for the Kaiba Mansion.

…

Maria softly opened the door to the mansion and let Bakura in after her before shutting it with the softest of clicks. Motioning for Bakura to follow her, she led the way up to her room.

"Are any of your brothers nearby?" Bakura asked in a whisper, looking around the large room.

Maria thought for a second. "As long as we aren't loud, Seto won't hear us since he's a few rooms down, and Mokuba is on the other side of the house and sleeps like a rock…why?" she asked.

Bakura tossed his bangs out of his eyes and came to sit on the large bed. "Because I hate whispering, and I was thinking that we could work some more on your memories. Rei said you are doing well on your own, but I want to see for myself," he answered in his normal volume of voice.

Maria nodded and joined Bakura on the bed. "So, how do you suggest we go about this? I can access my memories kind of like a search engine," she asked.

Bakura gently guided her around so that her back was to him and then pulled her down so that her head was lying on his lap. "We could do it that way, but my way is quicker," he replied, giving Maria a quick kiss before pulling both of them into his mind and into his memories.

Maria looked around Bakura's soul room, vaguely noticing that she was floating. "It looks like Egypt," she breathed, feeling Ria's half stir in agreement.

Bakura smiled softly and reaching up, gently grabbed Maria's hands, guiding her down to stand on the sandy floor. "It's a little bit of home. And this makes it even better," he replied before snapping his fingers. Immediately, his appearance rippled like a reflection in a disturbed pond and changed to his past self.

Maria felt her clothes swish around her and looking down, noticed that she was dressed in the dress she remembered Ria being in when she first met her. "Is this really necessary?" she chided, leaning against Bakura as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Bakura tipped the girl's head back so he could see her eyes and grinned impishly. "Of course my dear," he replied in a low purr, "Everything I do has a purpose."

Maria blinked and nestled her head farther back onto Bakura's shoulder to see her new boyfriend better. "So how is our appearances changing supposed to help my memories?" she asked skeptically.

All she got as an answer was a kiss followed by a chuckle. "Have you noticed that Ria's half feels more relaxed and willing to help you when she's in a more familiar environment?" he asked.

Maria nodded in understanding. "So, how are we going to unlock my memories?"

Bakura chuckled again and after turning Maria to face him pressed a finger to her lips gently. "Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions? Just trust me, okay? I'm going to show you my memories with you in them, but hopefully your memories will kick in, causing you to watch them from your point of view," he explained.

Once Maria nodded, he led her to a trapdoor and leading her down, Bakura emerged both of them in his memories.

Maria wasn't sure how long she watched Bakura's memories in a dream-like state. Bakura was right though, for she saw everything from her own point of view. Waking up finally, the first thing she was aware of was Bakura stroking her hair. The next thing she was aware of was that she was back in her room, since there wasn't a warm Egyptian breeze caressing her face.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," Bakura teased gently, ceasing his stroking. He smiled as Maria merely yawned and cuddled closer.

"I've been wondering, what was the deal with that trap door?" she murmured, still partially asleep.

"Each yami has a door in their soul room leading to their memories. Mine is a trapdoor, Ishtar's is a steel door in his wall, and the pharaoh's door is hidden in his labyrinth of a soul room," Bakura explained.

Maria nodded, and seeing that it was past three in the morning, crawled under her covers and kissing Bakura once more, drifted off to sleep once Bakura joined her.

The next morning, Maria and Bakura were awoken by a derisive snort. "You know, I must admit that I didn't expect you to be sharing your bed with him of all people," Seto stated.

Maria growled at her brother. "We got back from the carnival late, so Bakura crashed in my room," she defended.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Well, are you two going out?"

"Yes, she's my girlfriend, why do you care?" Bakura demanded.

"She's my sister, that's why. And I also merely thought that Maria was going out with Yami, since she did go out on a date with him three days ago," Seto shrugged before turning and leaving Maria's room, trench coat billowing out behind him.

Bakura watched him go and then turned to Maria with an odd expression on his face. "Is your brother always this cheery and enjoyable in the morning?" he asked.

Maria laughed. "No, he's usually much worse," she replied.

"Oh goody."

…

A little later, Yami was sitting on the windowsill in the living room of the game shop, only half listening to Yugi and his friends chatting away as he stared out the window.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked coming up to Yami, the group still chatting away behind him.

Yami turned and blinked at his hikari. "It's nothing Yugi, I'm just not in a talkative mood," he explained.

"Is it because you're trying to think of a way to win Maria over?" Yugi asked.

"Yes, it's because of that," Yami replied with a small smile.

Yugi smiled and turned to head back to his friends. "Well, sitting on the sill moping isn't going to solve anything. Especially if Bakura is on the move," he teased, satisfied when Yami jumped up and went for his jacket at the mention of his archrival.

A few minutes later found Yami at the park, lying on his back, staring at the clouds. He was so caught up in his musings, he didn't hear soft footsteps approaching before Maria's face popped into his view, making him jump in surprise.

"What are you doing here alone?" she asked as Yami calmed down and sat up, sitting next to him.

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied with a small smile, "Yugi and his friends started to get on my nerves with their incessant chatting…especially since I was trying to think."

Maria was silent for a second. "Were you trying to think of a way to win me over in order to win a bet, per say?" she asked quietly, much to Yami's surprise.

"How did you…"

"Know? Bakura told me last night. He told me that you two made a contest to see who would win me over and become their girlfriend first," Maria replied, "I'm not a tug of war rope. I don't need to get into a contest that boosts one of your egos."

Yami bowed his head. "I realize that, and I am sorry that we dragged you yet again into the middle of one of our feuds. The thing is, we both love you, so we made a binding agreement. You have to decide between the two of us on your own, us just influencing you through dates."

Both were silent for a minute before Maria spoke again. "I'm not saying that this will be my decision, since I want to judge pros and cons of one choice over the other. What would your reaction be if I chose Bakura? Will we still be friends?" she asked.

Yami had to think about that for a minute. "I'm not sure what my reaction would be, we'll have to see if that is your decision." Here Yami paused and enveloped Maria in a friendly hug, "However, we will still be friends," he finished.

Maria grinned and stood after a minute, brushing grass off of her long legs. "That's good to know. I have to go, I promised Mokuba that I would take him to the mall today," she said before walking off with a wave.

Once Yami was out of sight, she sighed and leaned against a wide tree. She felt guilty for lying to him, but she had to know the truth if she was going to go through with this decision.

"So what was his reaction to you telling him that you know about the deal?" Bakura asked, dropping out of the tree to land in a neat crouch in front of Maria.

"He was super surprised. When should I "make" my decision?" she asked as Bakura straightened.

Bakura sighed and ran a hand through his spikes. "It all depends. Do you want to toy with the Pharaoh, or do you want to get this over with?" he asked.

Maria thought for a minute. "Whether you like it or not, I am and still will be Yami's friend, and I don't want to hurt him any further by leading him on,"

Bakura smiled. "Just because you're my girlfriend doesn't give me a right to control you. If you want to be friends with the pharaoh, by all means go ahead," he scolded gently. Maria grinned and walked next to Bakura, humming contentedly.

…

A few days later, Maria called both Yami and Bakura to her house. When both had settled across the room from the other, Maria stood between them. "I have made my decision about this bet of yours. Bakura, if you lost, you would have to stop going after Yami's puzzle, and Yami, if you lost, you have to stop boasting that you never lose, and you have to stop going after Bakura on a regular basis," she reminded.

When both murmured their agreement, Maria took a deep breath and spoke again. "I must admit, the choice was extremely difficult and I had to think about this long and hard."

Bakura smirked to himself. 'What a load of bull. When did Maria become the little liar?' he wondered to himself but then was brought back to reality by Maria starting to shift towards Yami.

With a smile, Maria shifted her weight back towards Bakura, aware that both sets of eyes were firmly fixed upon her. After shifting from side to side a few more times, she finally turned and walked to Bakura, settling on his lap. "I'm sorry Yami, but I choose Bakura," she said softly as Bakura wrapped an arm around her waist, a smirk gracing his features.

Yami's face immediately fell and the expression in his eyes dulled. "So that is your decision?" he asked heavily. When Maria nodded, Yami just silently stood and walked out.

Bakura was quiet and then finally spoke. "I think you should go and clear this up with him. Him being mad at you won't be good for your mental and emotional health," he stated softly.

Maria nodded and sliding off Bakura's lap, followed Yami. Catching up to him just as he was about to open the door to leave, she threw her arms around his waist and hugged him to her. "Don't go just yet Yami."

Yami turned, a shocked expression on his face. "But why? Why do you want me to stay," he questioned.

Maria closed her eyes for a second, and Yami noticed her appearance change slightly and take on a more natural beauty. When she opened her eyes, the blue had changed to a deeper shade that Yami recognized from long ago. "I don't understand," he murmured.

Queen Maria sighed with a small smile and caressed his face gently. "If you're wondering about the appearance, I share a soul with Tsucci but can take over if need be. I am your queen from 5,000 years ago," she started.

Yami's eyes widened and then realized that his mind was trying to tell him that she was right. "Okay, but why did you want me to wait?"

"I…we wanted to explain why we chose Bakura. Yami, before you died, you made a promise to return to me. You have, but it was a little too late. Tsucci got tired of the wait, and Bakura promised something new. As he put it, you had our heart for 5,000 years, hoping you would fulfill that promise," she tried to explain, reverting back to the mixed appearance.

"I'm sorry I made you wait, and I'm sorry that I reacted the way I did. It's going to be hard to wrap my mind around the concept of you with Bakura, but I'll try," he promised. Maria smiled and leaning up, gave Yami a quick, innocent kiss on the lips.

"I'll see you later?" she asked. Yami nodded and left with a wave. Maria shut the door and returned to Bakura, settling on the former tomb robber's lap.

Bakura smiled and massaged the girl's scalp, pulling a happy sound from her throat. "All better?"

Maria stirred, the massaging starting to put her to sleep. "Yeah, and you are making me sleepy," she whined with a little yawn.

Bakura chuckled and scooping Maria up, headed up to her room. "A little nap won't hurt," he purred, setting her down on the bed and lying next to her. Once both were settled, Bakura resumed his massaging. Needless to say, it didn't take long for both to fall asleep.

…

Meanwhile, Rei lay on her bed, hugging her red pillow to her in a death grip. She couldn't figure out what attracted both Ishtar and Malik to her. Not to mention that she was starting to scare herself since she had grown slight feelings for both of them as well. "Damn it! I'm supposed to be cold hearted! I'm not supposed to be attracted to anyone, let alone two people!" she snarled to herself, burying her face into the pillow and letting out a muffled scream of frustration.

Not too long after she stopped screaming, Rei heard her door creak open slowly. "Rei? Is everything okay?" Ishtar asked softly. Taking a step forward, he suddenly leapt back a few feet as Rei chucked her pillow at him.

"Get out!" she snapped, glaring at him. Ishtar frowned, noticing circles under her eyes.

"I thought so. You haven't been sleeping, have you?" he pressed, scooping up the pillow and returning it to Rei.

Rei took the pillow and looked at it with a sigh. "I just feel that I'll never be able to pass on. I'm over 5,000 years old, shouldn't I have fulfilled my life's mission?" she demanded.

Ishtar pulled the small girl into his arms and held Rei securely to keep her from doing something stupid…like bite him…again. "Maybe you missed your purpose in Egypt…that's it! We can go back into the past when Yami returns to the past to recover his memories!" Ishtar exclaimed suddenly.

Rei glanced up at Ishtar with a frown. "What good will that do?" she asked.

"We can find out what the hell you did wrong. You told me that your Gypsy bloodline was cursed with very long life. Maybe to break the curse, you have to find out your appointed task in life and complete it!" Ishtar exclaimed, becoming excited.

Rei smiled, liking that idea. "When will Yami leave for the past?" she wondered.

Ishtar smirked. "Actually, we don't need him. I can do it on my own, but it will take time."

Rei mirrored the smirk and leaning up, surprised Ishtar with a kiss to the lips. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get busy!"

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YSF: Wow, I actually even surprised myself with this chapter… especially the Rei and Ishtar scene. Tune in next time to find out just what these two delinquents are gonna do! Review!…please?


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

Summary: Sequel to Different Classes. 5,000 years after the events in Different Classes, the whole group is reunited in Domino. Will history repeat itself, or will things be totally different? By the way, this takes place after Battle City.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

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Becoming Equals

Ishtar smirked. "Actually, we don't need him. I can do it on my own, but it will take time."

Rei mirrored the smirk and leaning up, surprised Ishtar with a kiss to the lips. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get busy!"

…

A few weeks later, Ishtar was ready to cast the spell. "Do you want to invite Maria and Bakura along?" he asked.

Rei nodded. "It could help with Tsucci's memories," she replied.

Ishtar tossed Rei the phone and went back to committing the ritual to memory.

"So what's going on?" Bakura asked several minutes later, wrapping his arms around Maria. The two had just arrived in Ishtar's room, surprised by Ishtar pouring over a spell book, and Rei setting up candles in a large circle.

Rei looked up after placing the last candle. "We decided to return to the past to find out why I haven't died. Do you want to come?" she replied.

Bakura smirked. "Sure, we'll both go," he said, "How far back are we going?"

"About the year Yami became Pharaoh," Ishtar replied, finally looking up. Motioning for the other three to step into the circle, he lit the candles and stepped in the circle as well. Forming a circle with their hands, Ishtar closed his eyes and started chanting.

Maria, keeping her eyes open, noticed that a sharp gust of wind came out of nowhere and swirled around them. Bakura, feeling her start, squeezed her hand gently and opened his eyes, to look into uncertain sapphire as they lifted off of the floor and the wind grew stronger. "Relax, neither Ishtar nor I will let you fall. Just hold tight to my hand and his," he reassured gently. Maria nodded and closed her eyes.

As they entered a wormhole, Ishtar stopped chanting. "This will take us directly to Ancient Egypt! Try not to let go of each other or you may end up in a different time!" Ishtar shouted over the howling wind, "How is everyone doing?"

Bakura and Rei both replied that they were fine, but Maria gritted her teeth and shook her head. "I'm hurting all over," she replied.

"Tsucci may be splitting from Queen Maria," Rei observed quietly as Ishtar let go of Maria so Bakura could pull her close for comfort.

Maria soon lapsed into unconsciousness from the strain the time travel was putting on her, and the others started to follow suit as the wind started to become the warm breezes of Egypt.

…

Bakura was the first to awake, vaguely wondering why he had fallen asleep in his backyard in the sun. Realization hit him at that moment, and he sat up quickly and looked around.

Maria was lying on her side not too far from him, still unconscious. Rei was just starting to wake up, and Ishtar was nowhere in sight. "Rei, are you ok?" Bakura asked, crawling over to his sister and helping her sit up as she opened her eyes.

"Yeah, remind me next time to refuse time travel…Hey, you look like you did, so that means that Ishtar's ritual worked," Rei replied, focusing on Bakura, "and…I feel young again! I feel…"

"You would be 14 at this time if we went back to when Yami became Pharaoh. However, you look 18…but then again, you always did look older," he answered with a smile before turning to Maria. "I hope she will be ok. Maria was in quite a bit of pain while we were time traveling."

Rei stood and went to Maria, rolling the girl onto her back. "She should be fine. Her breathing is steady and strong, and so is her pulse. Remember, she didn't live in this time, so the travel must have taken a bigger toll on her," she replied.

Bakura nodded and scooped Maria up, still a little concerned at how limp she was. "I'll put her in the spare room across from yours. This reminds me, where's Ishtar?" he asked as he headed in through the back door and into the house.

Rei followed her brother upstairs and into the guest room after checking Ishtar's room. "None of Ishtar's belongings are in his room. That must mean that he was transported… oh shit," Rei's eyes widened as she realized exactly where he was. "Ishtar is at his home…with his father," she murmured as Bakura spun around with the same realization.

Bakura chewed on his lip. "I can't recall what day it is. I have no idea what part of the initiation Ishtar has on his back," he admitted.

…

Meanwhile, Ishtar awoke and took a look around before letting his head fall back with a soft groan. "I totally forgot that I still lived with my father at this time," he mumbled, noticing that his whole stature was weaker and thinner than what he was used to.

Knowing that he was in trouble already, Ishtar rolled out of bed and crept to the kitchen, keeping a sharp lookout for his father. As he entered the kitchen, Ishtar was sent flying by a fist connecting with his jaw.

"Trying to avoid me, boy?" his father demanded, standing over Ishtar, "Think I didn't know you came home at dawn and slept this long? You should know better than to disobey me, boy."

Ishtar staggered to his feet. "Father, I can explain," he started but got sent to the floor again by a backhand.

"Don't try to fool me with lies! I see your lessons of respect haven't stuck. Maybe I should refresh them." As Ishtar was yanked up and dragged along, he could smell the alcohol on his father's breath and knew that his father was drunk.

Hearing a door unlocking, Ishtar knew exactly what his punishment was. He had the ankh, the wings of Isis, and the rectangles that would house the three Egyptian God Monster images carved onto his back from previous punishments. All he hoped was that he got the monsters this time around instead of the hieroglyphics.

Ishtar's father looked around the room with a smirk on his face. "You sure are getting familiar with this room. Tell me, would you like your punishment standing up, or laying down?"

Ishtar blinked and shrugged. "I'm going to be hurt either way. It doesn't matter." He had just finished saying that, when he was more or less thrown face down onto a stone table. Strong leather straps were fastened around his wrists, biceps, thighs, and ankles to keep him from struggling, and a wooden gag wrapped with rope was shoved into his mouth like a bit, but Ishtar spit it out. "I don't need it," he growled.

"Are you sure? There's a risk you may bite through your tongue," his father sneered. When Ishtar shook his head defiantly, his father shrugged and went about preparing the knives, sliding them into hot coals.

About 2 hours later, Ishtar's father finished his work. Ishtar now had the god monsters carved into his back, blood running onto the table and then overflowing on the floor. "Somehow I'm unsatisfied with your punishment," his father drawled, another smirk gracing his face.

Ishtar was almost unconscious with pain and didn't get what his father was saying until he felt his hair being brushed away from his neck, exposing his gold choker. Feeling his father holding down his head, Ishtar started to panic when he felt something touch his neck and his choker grow unbearably hot.

"Stop! Father! Please stop!" Ishtar begged as the back of the choker became soft and touched the back of his neck, making him scream in pain.

Ishtar's father kept the hot knife on the choker, switching knives only when the knife cooled, until the choker was fused around Ishtar's neck. Removing the knife, Ishtar's father got up and left. Returning a few minutes later, he doused the choker and burned flesh with cold water from the Nile, thus tearing another series of screams from   
Ishtar's throat. "I trust you learned your lesson?" his father demanded.

Ishtar started to sob and nodded as best as he could, able to smell the burned flesh of his neck. Ishtar's father, satisfied with that response, untied Ishtar and left him alone to clean himself up.

…

That night found Bakura and Rei slinking in the shadows, heading to Ishtar's house to see if he was okay. They were almost at the street that Ishtar lived on, when Bakura suddenly grabbed Rei by the arm and yanked her into the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Clamping a hand over her mouth to keep her from protesting, Bakura crouched both of them down as a figure passed their hiding spot, heading into town.

Once the figure passed and was a safe distance away, Bakura released Rei and they both emerged back on the road. "What was that for?" she hissed angrily, brushing some dirt off her knees.

Bakura shushed her. "That was Ishtar's father. I thought it was Ishtar for a moment, but the wind carried the scent of alcohol to me, and we both know that Ishtar doesn't drink," he explained in a whisper, seeing Rei calm down and nod in understanding.

Both continued to Ishtar's, dashing down the street to shorten the time. Reaching the house, Rei led Bakura around to Ishtar's window. Hearing nothing, they slipped through the window and looked around. "Rei, where would Ishtar be if he wasn't in his room?" Bakura asked.

Rei thought, racking her brain for the answer. "I remember that if he didn't feel like sleeping in his room, he would sleep in a huge cushion in the living room," she replied, taking the lead and heading to the living room.

Sure enough, on the cushion that could probably hold all three occupants of the room comfortably, lay Ishtar asleep, eyes scrunched up in pain. "Ishtar, wake up," Rei urged softly, shaking his shoulder gently.

Ishtar stirred and opened his eyes slightly. "Rei? What are you doing here?" he asked, voice almost gone due to his screaming.

"Did you get carved?" Bakura asked, getting to the point.

Ishtar flinched and nodded slightly before gasping in pain. Bakura sighed and scooped Ishtar up gently, feeling poorly wrapped bandages under the thinner male's shirt.

None of them said anything until they reached Bakura's dwelling. There, Bakura sat Ishtar on the floor of the living room and then went upstairs to check on Maria. Once he got back down, Rei had gotten Ishtar's shirt and bandages off and was busy cleaning the newest carvings.

Ishtar hissed as Rei applied salt to keep the wounds from being infected and then wrapped his chest and torso in bandages. Feeling Rei tap his shoulder to let him know she was done, Ishtar went to turn his head to look at her and ended up letting out a hoarse scream of agony and clasping his hands around his neck loosely.

Bakura immediately came over to Ishtar and pried his hands away, swearing when he saw the choker fused and blackened skin above and below the fuse. "Rei, go get my long knife. Ishtar's skin is actually bonded to the choker," he swore.

Rei hurried to comply and came back with the knife. Bakura motioned for her to keep Ishtar still and pressed gently on the front of the choker, but not enough to really restrict Ishtar's breathing. Then, with careful precision, Bakura slid the long knife into the space between the choker and the back of Ishtar's neck, cutting away the charred skin and ignoring Ishtar's sobbing pleas to stop.

Then Bakura put the knife in the fire to heat and while he waited, treated the burns around Ishtar's neck, the blonde teen trying to hold himself still while Bakura slid protective cloth between his neck and the choker. Finally with the knife heated, Bakura carefully and slowly heated up the choker and reshaped it into its three original circles and scraped the stubborn flesh from the gold before cooling the gold with water that he had Rei fetch.

"There," he sighed finally, "you're treated. Just try not to press on you choker until your neck is healed. Excess pressure will make those medicated pads stick to your skin.

Ishtar smiled in thanks and leaned against Rei once she moved him to the couch and fell asleep.

Rei smiled softly at the sleeping blonde before turning to her brother. "I'll look after him. You go take care of your precious angel," she teased quietly.

Bakura smiled in reply and headed upstairs. Entering Maria's room, he stretched out onto the bed next to Maria and watched the girl sleep. Apparently she was merely sleeping now, for her expression had morphed into one of contentment from expressionless.

Bakura smiled at the prospect of Maria being awake tomorrow and kissed her lightly, taken aback when Maria wrapped her arms around his neck and responded to the kiss. "Morning," she murmured once they broke apart.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly, propping himself up with his elbow. Maria lazily blinked and then focused on him.

"I feel better than when we were in that wormhole. Rei was right. Ria's soul split from mine. That's why I was in so much pain. By the way, I like this form of yours," she answered, running a finger over his scars.

Bakura chuckled and standing, scooped Maria up and headed into the hall. "Why thank you my dear. Come, let's go into my room. The mattress is softer," he stated in a low purr as he headed out of the room and to his bedroom.

Maria smiled and looked around the room once Bakura placed her on the bed and set about getting ready for sleep. "Any rules that I should know?" she asked.

Bakura glanced at her after hanging up his red coat. "As a matter of fact, there are. One, I could care less if you go in the basement, but never go into the second basement unless I say you can. Two, same rule applies for this room. Don't come in unless I give you permission. Three, for your own safety, don't go anywhere without me, Rei, or Ishtar until you know your way around…okay?" he stated.

Maria thought about the rules and decided that they were simple enough to follow. Nodding, Maria smiled as Bakura joined her on the bed and pulled her close. With a content sigh, she drifted back off to sleep.

Towards evening, Maria woke up and carefully sliding out from Bakura's arms, crept downstairs. Smiling when she spotted Ishtar asleep on a couch, she turned and wandered into the kitchen.

"Good evening Maria," Rei said from where she was kneeling by a cook fire.

Maria smiled and joined her. "Does everyone always sleep till night?" she asked.

Rei shook her head. "I've been awake since what would be three in the afternoon, Bakura will be up in about a half hour, and Ishtar normally is up during the day since his father has him running chores. However, his father is a psychopath and uses the tomb keeper's initiation as punishment. Ishtar was given a good portion yesterday, so Bakura wants him to stay here now and not return home. And if you're wondering, he should only be napping. He was awake a few minutes ago," she explained.

"I heard my name. I hope nothing bad was said about me," Ishtar stated as he leaned against the doorway.

Rei twitched an eyebrow. "Ishtar, you know Bakura's going to flip if he sees you up."

Ishtar rolled his eyes. "I don't care. I've dealt with this pain for four times before this, I know my limits," he snapped.

"Yes, but you've never had to deal with third degree burns on your neck, so I would take it easy if I were you," Bakura growled in reply from behind Ishtar. Ishtar jumped and whirled around, causing him to hiss in pain at the sudden movement.

"I told you so," Bakura added as he brushed by Ishtar and grabbed an apple from a bowl. Turning to Maria, he smirked. "You weren't as quiet as you hoped. I woke up at hearing you open my door."

Maria stuck out her tongue in reply and returned to helping Rei with the meal.

…

Two months had passed since the four had returned to the past. Maria had quickly gotten to know Thebes and had even ran into Queen Maria, Queen Maria recognizing the other and giving her a tour of the palace, giving Maria a chance to meet Yugi and Pharaoh Yami.

"Good but not good enough," Bakura laughed as Maria made a lunge for him and he blocked it. He was currently teaching her how to defend herself better so she could start wandering Thebes alone.

Maria panted and pushed her bangs from her sticky forehead. "It's not fair. You are so much better and stronger than me! Why can't I spar with Rei?" she demanded.

Bakura didn't answer for a minute and then rushed at Maria, easily overpowering the girl and pinning her to the wall of the house. "Because, Maria, if you are out in Thebes alone and you get jumped, it's most likely going to be by a very strong male," Bakura started and shifting a little, pinned Maria with his whole body. "You would be in a predicament similar to the one you are in now, and you wouldn't be able to break free. Chances are that something bad, like rape, would occur then."

Maria strained every which way, trying to get free and gave up when she realized that he was right. Bakura, seeing this, released her and stepped back. "That's why you're training with me. Training with Rei would essentially be pointless," he finished softly.

Maria nodded and then grinning, swept Bakura's legs out from under him and pinned him to the ground as he landed.

"What the hell…" Bakura started, but was cut off when Maria leaned down and kissed him softly.

Maria pulled back with an impish smile and answered Bakura's unspoken question. "Rule number one, never let your guard down, lest your opponent take advantage of that moment of weakness," she recited with a laugh. She would have continued, but Bakura used his strength to switch their positions.

"I see you learn fast. However, that was a cheap shot, so I must regretfully punish you," he replied before tickling Maria, his girlfriend shrieking in laughter.

Meanwhile, Ishtar sat in his room on the window seat, gazing at the clear view of the Nile his window offered. With a sigh of contentment, he gazed around his room and then frowned. So far he had listened to Bakura and hadn't returned to his home, but with each passing day, he started to miss his most prized possessions, thinking his room was too bare.

'I wonder…' he thought and then thought about where the other members of the house were. Rei just left for the market a few minutes ago, and by the sounds of laughter, Bakura and Maria were in the backyard. 'Maria probably cheap shotted Bakura again,' he thought. He was glad Bakura finally found someone. Making up his mind, he wrote a quick note and left it on the kitchen table for Rei before leaving the house and heading at a swift jog towards his home.

Reaching the house, Ishtar figured that his father wasn't home, seeing as it was a little after midday. Entering quietly, he made it all the way to his room before he was hit on the back of the head, thus rendering him unconscious.

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YSF: (Dramatic music) He's a psycho! Two chapters in one day, happy me. Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Yugioh, never have, and never will. I do, however, own Maria Tsuconnichi or Tsucci for short. Rei belongs to my best friend, and I own this plot and the plot to the story that this is a sequel to.

YSF: Okay, I'm starting to get a little irritated. I know people read this story, the stats say so, so why aren't you reviewing? I like to know how my work is, so let me know! If I don't get at least 5 reviews in, let's say, 2 months, this story will come down and I won't repost it. Same goes for my other stories, and if I need to, I'll take down Different Classes as well to make my message clear.

… time and scene change

"Blah" talking

'Blah' thinking

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Becoming Equals

Reaching the house, Ishtar figured that his father wasn't home, seeing as it was a little after midday. Entering quietly, he made it all the way to his room before he was hit on the back of the head, thus rendering him unconscious.

Rei returned home and put the groceries down on the counters that Bakura had installed. Looking out the window into the backyard, Rei smiled at seeing Bakura and Maria training, both drenched in sweat. Knowing that they would be going down to the Nile for a swim in a few minutes to cool off, Rei set to work putting the food away, noticing the note at that moment. "I'll be back soon," Rei read out loud, recognizing Ishtar's handwriting. Shrugging it off, Rei tossed the note into the fire pit before resuming her chores.

A few days later, Ishtar hadn't returned. All three were starting to worry, and Rei had a sinking feeling about what happened. "Bakura, Ishtar hasn't come back yet, and I think I know what happened to him," she stated quietly.

Bakura paused in stroking Maria's hair, the girl having just slipped into dreamland. "I do too, but I just hope that Ishtar wasn't foolish enough to have made the same mistake twice," he replied.

"Can we go see, just to make sure he is all right?" Rei asked.

Bakura nodded and gently shook Maria awake. Maria stirred and opened her eyes after yawning and lifted her head off of his lap. "What's going on?" she wondered.

'We're going to go see if Ishtar returned to his home. You are going to come with us," Bakura replied, standing and helping Maria stand up.

Soon, the three reached Ishtar's dwelling. "Bakura, I smell blood," Maria whispered. Rei nodded in agreement and the three crept into the house. At seeing the living room and kitchen clear, Bakura motioned to the hall.

"There are three doors. Ishtar has to be in one of the rooms. Maria, you get the farthest door, Rei, you get Ishtar's room, and I'll search the middle room," he instructed. Rei and Maria nodded and went to their respective doors. Rei checked hers and found nothing, Bakura searched the master bedroom and came up empty handed. Both siblings were still looking for any clues when they heard a quiet scream come from Maria.

Rushing to the third room, they saw Maria standing frozen in the doorway, staring into the torch lit room. Following her gaze, Bakura paled and grabbing Maria's shoulders, turned her away from the sight.

Rei, also pale, stepped into the room and carefully stepping around a large puddle of blood on the floor, went to the figure across the room. "Ishtar? Ishtar, wake up!" she exclaimed. At first there was no response, and then Rei saw him stir. Ishtar flinched at the hand on his shoulder and started to shake. "Ishtar! It's okay! It's me, Rei. Maria, Bakura, and I came to bring you home," she soothed.

"R-Rei? Rei I'm so tired," he replied in a whisper raising his head. Rei took a step back at seeing Ishtar's face. What Rei had thought were tear tracks was actually blood on his face. His eyes were swollen shut, and cuts going from the corners of his eyes and angling under them were the source of the blood.

"I know that you're tired, but you lost too much blood. You must stay awake," she urged.

Ishtar leaned his head back against the wall. He didn't answer for a minute but then answered that he'd try but it was really hard. While Rei worked at keeping Ishtar awake, Bakura instructed Maria to go into Ishtar's room and pack his things. Once she left, Bakura looked around and spotted the keys to Ishtar's shackles.

Crossing to Rei, Bakura unlocked the four metal shackles bolted to the wall. Once he finished, Bakura caught Ishtar as he fell from lack of support. "Come Rei, let's bring him into the living room. If we don't bandage him now, he will not survive the trip home," Bakura ordered. Rei nodded and ran to get water and other necessities.

Bakura carried Ishtar to the living room and set to work cleaning the blood off Ishtar's back with the soap and water that Rei had waiting. Maria came from the hall and knelt next to Bakura. "I think you may need these," she said quietly, handing over linen bandages.

Bakura accepted them and started wrapping Ishtar's torso after sprinkling the wounds with salt. It worried him that Ishtar only uttered a tired whimper of complaint. "Rei, go into his father's room and get the sheets on the bed. Tear the sheets into strips. I don't have enough bandages to cover everything," he said, "Maria, go into the kitchen and find something easy for Ishtar to eat. I'll keep him awake until then."

Both Rei and Maria hurried to comply, not sure what would happen if Ishtar died. All three worked silently until Bakura sighed and sat back. "That's all we can do for now. Let's go home. We'll need to keep watch until morning. When dawn comes, I think we can let Ishtar sleep then," he finally said. Picking up Ishtar, Bakura headed home, Maria and Rei following behind with Ishtar's things.

…

The next morning, Maria was awakened from her doze by a hand tentatively closing over hers. Looking up, she smiled at seeing Ishtar trying to figure out whose hand he was holding. The frown told her that it was a hard decision between her and Rei. Rei, Bakura, and she had taken turns watching Ishtar to make sure he was still alive while he slept. Both Bakura and Rei were trying to get some sleep currently. "I'll give you a clue, I'm not Bakura," she told him quietly.

Ishtar smiled. "Where am I Maria?" he asked, "The last thing I remember was that Bakura was wrapping my cuts in my living room."

"You are in your bed at Bakura's. What did that bastard do to you? You were drenched in blood," Maria wondered.

Ishtar's frown returned and Maria could see his eyebrows shift under the bandage around his eyes. "My father finished the initiation and then went over all of the cuts on my back, making them deeper. Finally, he cut the markings under my eyes. I can't remember much after that, but I know he put something in the cuts that he said would remind me that I will always be a tomb keeper. Whatever it was, it burned and still burns," he answered.

Maria frowned and stood. "I'm going to go get Bakura to check your eyes. Do you want anything to eat?"

Ishtar shook his head so Maria left and headed up the stairs. Pausing outside of Bakura's room, she hesitated and then entered as quietly as possible. Heading over to him, Maria gently shook Bakura awake.

"What are you doing in here?" Bakura demanded tiredly, more than a little ticked off at being woken up.

"I'm sorry for breaking your rule Bakura, but Ishtar is awake and told me that his eyes are burning. He said his father put something in the cuts near his eyes and I'm worried that if we don't flush it out, he could lose his sight," she explained.

Bakura regarded her skeptically but then slid out of bed. Following Maria back to Ishtar's room, he approached the bed and sat on the edge. "What's bothering you Ishtar?" he asked after a yawn.

"My eyes are burning," he replied simply.

Bakura unwrapped the bandage and inspected both cuts gently. "Damn it, your father put a finely powdered khol in the cuts," he reported, "I can't do anything until the corners of your eyes heal, or else the khol will enter your eye and you very well may lose your sight."

Ishtar made a face at that prospect. "Bakura, what will the khol do?" he asked tentatively.

Bakura sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The khol, since it's packed in there quite well, will act as a dye as your cuts will bleed and secrete other liquids to clean themselves out. It will mix with the liquids and dye the scar tissue black," he explained.

Maria winced and Ishtar sighed. "Okay, I'm through listening to this. Can you wrap my eyes back up so I can go back to sleep?" Ishtar asked. Bakura murmured an okay and wrapped Ishtar's eyes with a fresh bandage. Standing, Bakura motioned for Maria to leave as well as Ishtar settled down to sleep some more.

"This is Rei's territory now. I think she enjoys playing mother hen to Ishtar every chance she can," he explained, leaning against the stair rail before regarding Maria with a relatively cool stare. "And now what to do about you breaking my rule," he started.

Maria gulped nervously and glanced at the floor. Bakura could get downright mean when he wanted to be, and Rei had even warned her that he made no exceptions to anyone who broke his rules unless it was in an emergency. "Look at me," he commanded quietly, grabbing her chin and tipping her head up.

Seeing the look of fright in her eyes, Bakura sighed and brushed some stray bangs from Maria's eyes. "What am I going to do with you? You deserve some form of punishment, but if I can't think of anything that won't make me feel guilty after…except for one thing," he said with a smirk.

Maria didn't get a chance to ask what the smirk was for before Bakura grabbed her wrist and pulled her upstairs and into his room. "Bakura, what are you doing?" Maria asked as Bakura let her wrist go and pushed against his bed so that it moved.

Bakura knelt down and opened a trapdoor that had been carefully concealed. "Go into the trapdoor and follow the passage. You'll have to go at a belly crawl," he instructed. Maria warily complied and soon found herself in a space about the size of a room by the feel of it, the floor matching up with the bottom of the tunnel she had just emerged from.

"I wonder where I am," she murmured and then jumped when she heard Bakura's voice right behind her in the pitch darkness.

"You're in my secret room. It actually was another room on the second floor, but I modified it so that the only entrance or exit is the tunnel that we just emerged from. Oh and by the way, there's no window to let in light," he added before giving Maria a light shove to move her farther into the room before sliding back into the tunnel and shutting and locking a door that swung into the room.

Bakura laid there in the tunnel and grinning, started counting softly. He got to ten before he heard Maria find the door and vainly try to open it. "Bakura? Bakura this isn't funny, let me out!" she protested. Bakura's grin merely grew wider.

"Now, now, now, this is your punishment. Confinement in there for a full 24 hours…well, until dawn tomorrow. Have fun!" he replied before turning and crawling down the tunnel, ignoring Maria's muffled protests.

…

The next evening, Bakura descended the stairs and shook his head at seeing Ishtar laying on his stomach on the couch, head resting on the arm, both arms propping up his torso. "Do I want to know the reason behind this?" he asked, retrieving his usual apple and biting into it.

Ishtar turned his head towards Bakura. "I felt too isolated in my room, so Rei helped me move to the couch," he explained.

"By the way, where's Maria? Usually she's up by now," Rei asked, entering sitting next to Ishtar in a chair, holding a plate of food.

Bakura finished his apple and smirked. "She broke a rule and had to pay for it last night," was all he said.

Rei sighed and started feeding Ishtar the food. "You didn't hurt her did you? If you did, that's no way to keep a girl's heart."

Bakura snorted and going into the kitchen, grabbed a plate of food as well. "I didn't harm her, I wouldn't forgive myself if I did. No, I just locked her in the secret room and don't plan on letting her out until sunrise/dawn," he answered.

Ishtar suddenly laughed, startling Rei. "I thought I heard someone in the secret room this morning," he laughed again.

Towards morning, Maria was awoken from her sleep by the feeling of being cuddled. Opening her eyes, she looked up and saw Bakura looking down at her. "I trust we learned a lesson?" he mused.

Maria nodded and Bakura loosened his hold so that Maria could break free if she wanted. "Where did you get the candle from?" she asked suddenly, noticing that she was still in the secret room.

Bakura grinned. "There are always candles in this room. I keep them, holders, and a way to light them in that table."

Maria glanced at the table and frowned. "I hate you," she muttered.

"No you don't. At least be grateful that you found the pile of cushions that we're sitting on, or else you would have been sore waking up. Just ask Rei, for she's had to sleep in here a few times," Bakura pointed out before getting up from his relaxed position. Going to the tunnel, he stopped and turned back to Maria. "Coming?"

Maria nodded and snuffing the candle, made her way to Bakura. Emerging from the tunnel a minute later, she was about to leave Bakura's room when arms were wrapped around her waist, keeping her still. "Yes?" she questioned, turning to face the tomb robber.

"Stay in here."

"Yes master," Maria chided before giving Bakura a little kiss. Bakura returned the kiss and led Maria to his bed, tucking them both in once she was settled. Maria lay there in the predawn, softly playing with Bakura's hair as he started to fall asleep. "Bakura?"

"Hmm?"

"I just realized that you steal more than just treasures and finery," she started.

Bakura woke up the rest of the way and propped himself up. "And what else would I steal or have stolen?" he asked, confused.

Maria yawned and curled towards him. "My heart," she mumbled.

Bakura smiled and laying back down, kissed Maria on the forehead. "You're wrong my dear, for your heart is a treasure. It's one that I continuously strive for to gain completely," he replied in a whisper as both of them fell asleep

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YSF: Remember, review or else I am deleting this story and Different Classes. The magic number is 5. I'm confidant that you can do it!


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